Algeria and China have signed two cooperation accords on civilian nuclear power, Algerian government newspaper El Moudjahid reported on Tuesday.

One accord is between the two governments on developing peaceful nuclear power, and the other is between Algeria's Energy and Mines Ministry and China's atomic energy authority on training, research and human resources, it reported.

The accords were signed by Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wei Jianguo and Energy and Mines Minister Secretary-General Faisal Abbas, it said.

Algeria already has similar accords with several countries including Russia, the United States and France.

OPEC oil exporter Algeria, which has big uranium deposits and two nuclear research reactors, is looking at generating nuclear energy and could start building a power plant within the next 10 years, its energy minister Chakib Khelil said last year.

Any construction of a power plant would be years away because Algeria does not have a law governing nuclear energy, needs to train people and must select a location away from populated and earthquake-prone areas, he said.