BEIJING - China and Iraq consolidated their trade ties on Monday with the two signing agreements on economic cooperation and personnel training to give a hand to the Middle East nation's war-torn economy.

The agreements were made as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao at the Great Hall of the People.

Maliki's China trip, which will end on Thursday, is the first visit to the country by an Iraqi prime minister since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1958.

During the meeting, Wen said China encourages domestic enterprises to establish stable and long-term relations with Iraq.

He said China will continue to assist Iraq's economic reconstruction.

Maliki thanked Wen for China's support and help, saying Iraq will take further measures to protect the safety of Chinese nationals and the rights of Chinese investors.

He said he hopes more Chinese companies will enter Iraq's oil and gas, electric power, transportation, telecommunication and agriculture sectors.

China is one of the key investors in Iraq's oil and gas industry, and its largest energy company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), announced last month that it had started pumping oil at the Al-Ahdab field, making it the first major new area to start production in Iraq in 20 years.

The site is expected to produce around 25,000 barrels of oil a day in the first three years.

Wu Mouyuan, an engineer at the Overseas Investment Environment Research Department under CNPC Research Institute of Economics and Technology, said Iraq will be one of CNPC's major overseas cooperation partners during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

"We will focus on three oilfields within five years in Iraq and have set ambitious targets for their development," Wu said, noting that CNPC started oil negotiations with Iraq as early as 1997.

But he pointed out that the major challenges to operating in Iraq are staff safety and poor infrastructure.

Pang Changwei, a professor with China University of Petroleum, said China's total oil imports from Iraq are still small compared with the country's large reserves.

He said a good political relationship with Iraq is conducive to China's efforts to diversify its energy supply channels.

Maliki will meet President Hu Jintao on Tuesday and then travel to China's economic hub of Shanghai to visit some high-tech firms before heading home.

Wu Jiao and Wang Yan contributed to the story.