Zhang Xi opened the scoring in the third minute before Zhang Jiong made it 2-0 seven minutes later.

China added a third two minutes into the second half through Zhang Xi and though Mohammed Al Thabeti pulled one back for Iraq in the 23rd minute, goals from Li Xin and Zhang put China in a commanding position.

The goals continued to come as Mustafa Hamza and Hu Jie scored in the 32nd minute before the latter made it 7-2 soon after.

And a determined Iraq almost completed a remarkable comeback as they scored four goals in the final six minutes, but China did enough to defend their slender lead and secure the win.

The three points mean China finish second in Group D and will play Thailand for a place in the semi-final of the tournament on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Japan rounded off their group campaign with a narrow 1-0 win over Turkmenistan at Uzbekistan Sports Complex on Tuesday.

The East Asians had already cemented their place in the quarter-finals but ensured they head into Thursday’s match with Kyrgyzstan in confident mood after winning all three games in the tournament so far.

The only goal of a surprisingly close-fought affair came in the 11th minute when Takanori Kamisawa fired home.