Ian Shih, president of Rockwell Automation China, said China increasingly ensures equal treatment of domestic and foreign companies in IPR protection, particularly in terms of enforcement and policy implementation.

"The better business environment in China with respect to IP gives Rockwell greater confidence, security and enthusiasm to deepen our local engagement," Shih said.

"Chinese IP laws and regulations are becoming not only world-class, but also very innovative," said Rani Jarkas, chairman of Cedrus Group.

"That's something very important, in my opinion, to protect companies and innovations. It actually encourages both foreign investments and domestic investments in innovation."

David Blair, vice-president of the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization, said, "In the US, we moved heavily toward monopolized economy.

"The amount of concentration in company domination in almost every sector is increasing dramatically. And somehow, that's made possible through the use of the patent systems.

"So I'm encouraging China not to allow it to happen. It's important to have IP, but it's also important to ensure that IP doesn't kill the competitive economy."

Wang Yu, Zhou Lanxu, Zhong Nan, Yin Mingyue and Yu Yadi contributed to this story.