China will further strengthen regulations to protect intellectual property rights to create a more innovative environment for foreign businesses, government officials said Monday.

"In the context of globalization, the Chinese government welcomes and encourages all forms of cooperative innovation," Zhang Yutai, head of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said at the China Development Forum 2011.

He said China is working to improve its legal system to ensure a healthy environment for innovation.

Meanwhile, he urged local innovative enterprises to interact more actively with foreign companies to tap the international market and increase the country's competitiveness in the world.

In the 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development,China says it will attract more foreign investment directed toward transforming the country's growth pattern while encouraging local enterprises to go global.

The China Development Forum 2010 runs from Saturday to Monday, with a theme of "The Ongoing Transformation of China's Growth Pattern" this year.