China will pay great attention to protecting property rights of all business entities, whether State-owned enterprises or private businesses, Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday.

"Businesses of all types of ownership, be it State-owned or private enterprises, have made important contributions to China's tremendous economic growth in the past decades," Li said at a news conference after the closing meeting of the annual session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Private business has contributed to nearly half of government tax, and 90 percent of new urban employment, Li noted.

Li said the country will make all property owners, including investors and companies with all types of ownership, feel confident by reassuring their legitimate property rights.

"Property rights are the cornerstone of the socialist market economy. Protecting property rights is protecting productive forces," Li said.

He added contracts must be honored and no legitimate contract should be treated as a piece of scrap paper.