(Corrects number of member nations in fifth paragraph of Nov. 7 story.)

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Egypt, the most populous Arab country, is discussing “unfair” trade practices with China, with which it has a trade deficit, Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said today.

“What is a worry for me is if competition is unfair,” Rachid said in an interview at the fourth conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, or FOCAC, in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. “That is where we are unhappy.”

Rachid declined to specify what practices he considered unfair. He said Egypt has lodged 22 anti-dumping complaints against China.

Chinese exports to Egypt last year were worth about $5 billion, compared with trade of $400 million in the opposite direction, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

FOCAC, created in 2000 at China’s initiative, includes 49 African countries. Last year China exported $104 billion worth of goods to the continent, from which it imported $56 billion, the Xinhua official news agency reported in October, citing Liu Zhenmin, a Chinese representative to the United Nations.

China has been investing in minerals and energy in Africa as well as making the continent a market for its exports. Chinese direct investments in Africa totaled $875 million through September this year, according to Xinhua.

Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department cited “serious concerns” about the value of China’s currency, the yuan, whose low level makes its exports cheap. Rachid said he didn’t have a “clear view” of whether China was manipulating its currency to keep it low.

Schools And Hospitals

China-Africa trade has grown 30 percent annually so far this decade, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said in an interview in the government-run China Daily newspaper today. He proposed exempting some commodities, which he didn’t name, from customs duties, and setting up a quality inspection system for Chinese exports.

He said China would also continue building schools and hospitals and helping improve agriculture in Africa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Sharm El-Sheikh at dwilliams41@bloomberg.net; Mahmoud Kassem in Sharm El-Sheikh at Mkassem1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 07:50 EST