BEIJING, July 24 (UPI) -- As the situation in Iraq moves from conflict to reconstruction, the market opportunities are increasingly attractive to China, an Iraqi envoy said.

Iraqi Ambassador to China Mohammad Sabir Ismail said in a two-hour interview with the official Xinhua news agency that violence in the country is down 80 percent and the inflation rate dropped from a prewar level of 2,000 percent to 12 percent in 2008.

With a 7 percent annual increase in gross domestic product and employee wages on the rise, Ismail said the time is right for China to invest in Iraq's reconstruction.

"I take this opportunity to reiterate our invitation to all Chinese companies to explore the Iraqi market that lies in the heart of the Middle East region," he said.

Iraqi and Chinese bilateral commercial agreements could also be realized in highways, hospitals, schools and other areas in the Iraqi infrastructure, because China has "plenty of experience" in these fields, the ambassador said.

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