14th Chinese peacekeeping contingent to South Sudan (Wau) completes 1-year mission

The 14th Chinese peacekeeping contingent to South Sudan (Wau) held a handover ceremony to officially transfer responsibilities to the 15th contingent on Saturday, marking the conclusion of their year-long deployment under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

During the ceremony, in addition to the handover of more than 10 items, including command authority, weapons, equipment and various supplies, the the two contingents also discussed in detail the camp's surrounding environment, and shared insights on disease prevention and control, as well as upcoming construction tasks in accordance with the area's security conditions.

The 14th contingent, consisting of an engineer detachment and a medical detachment, was deployed to the South Sudan (Wau) mission area in December 2023.

During the one-year mission period, the engineer detachment repaired over 350 kilometers of roads and supported more than 100 small-scale engineering projects for three bases at Wau, Kuajok, and Aweil. The detachment completed various peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance activities with high standards, including repairs to main supply line roads, enhancements to airport facilities and the construction of prefabricated housing.

The medical detachment gave more than 1,500 medical consultations to patients, carried out over 1,200 examinations and tests for people, admitted more than 40 inpatients, undertook 19 emergency forward reception and aeromedical evacuation tasks, and conducted over 20 surgeries.

The detachment also carried out material donation, first-aid skill training, free clinic support and various other humanitarian assistance activities, and donated over 83 types of materials totaling more than 19,800 items.

The 15th Chinese peacekeeping contingent, which also includes engineering and medical teams, will officially commence their mission in the coming year.

14th Chinese peacekeeping contingent to South Sudan (Wau) completes 1-year mission

The United Kingdom officially joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), one of the world's largest free trade deals, on Sunday, becoming the 12th member state of the bloc.

Upon its accession to the CPTPP, Britain became the first European nation to join the major trans-Pacific trading bloc, in what has been hailed as the country's biggest trade deal accession since Brexit.

This is also the first time a new country has joined the bloc since the agreement came into effect in 2018.

The CPTPP trade deal involves 11 countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, covers a market of about 500 million people, and generates more than 13 percent of the world's income.

The United Kingdom formally applied to join the CPTPP on Feb. 1 2021, and on the last day of March 2023, the country announced that it had completed the relevant negotiations and reached an agreement to join the bloc.

On July 16 last year, the CPTPP Ministerial Meeting formally approved the UK's accession.

UK officially joins CPTPP