Businessmen from Liberia, Nigeria, and some other West African countries had been denied entry into Guangzhou city in recent months even though they had valid visas, said Liberia Minister Counsellor Mohammed Kenneth.

"It's complete harassment," he said when raising the concern to the Chinese commerce ministry at a briefing Tuesday morning.

He added the problem is dampening "the level of enthusiasm for them to come in".

"I don't know whether they have many other security concerns or what, but nobody has been able to actually give us a clear-cut explanation," he told AFP afterwards.

He said that his embassy had received up to seven such reports over the last year.

A Nigerian diplomat in Beijing, who declined to be named, confirmed the Chinese practice of turning back traders.

"A lot of African countries had that problem," the diplomat told AFP.

Kenneth said five African countries expected to eventually pass on their concerns to China's foreign ministry.

Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a press conference Tuesday he did not know if the problem was real.

The problem "remains to be verified" and Chinese authorities "manage the activities of foreigners in China according to law," he said.

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