HARBIN - A 13-member team of police officers has departed from their base in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province to join the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in East Timor for a half-year mission.

It is the 17th peacekeeping team China has sent to East Timor since 2000, a spokesman with the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Public Security said Wednesday.

The team left the provincial capital of Harbin on Tuesday.

The team will offer law enforcement assistance to the local police force in East Timor, the spokesman said.

Before departing for the peacekeeping mission, the team had nine months of rigorous training.