Premier Li Keqiang pledged greater efforts to protect intellectual property rights on Monday as he welcomed French enterprises to expand high-tech cooperation with China.

Li made the pledge during a seminar with business leaders from China and France attended by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

Li said China would never allow forcing technology transfers, and heightened measures will be adopted to protect IPR, he said.

China will only become more open to the world, and the expanding of its opening up is a measure that safeguards and promotes the free trade system, he said.

China welcomed French enterprises to seize the opportunity of this further opening up, expand cooperation, and achieve more pragmatic cooperative outcomes, he said.

Li added that China will ensure greater convenience to foreign entrepreneurs and business people, including those from France, who come to do business in China.

Foreign personal exchanges will also be expanded to enable more pragmatic cooperation, he said.

Philippe said he hoped enterprises from both countries can expand their areas of cooperation and small and medium-sized enterprises can become major players in bilateral cooperation.

He also welcomed China to step up investment to France, according to a news statement released after the seminar.