Xi Jinping, China’s president, has promised to protect the interests of global companies amid rising concern among foreign businesses about discriminatory policies that hurt their operations in China.

“We will protect the lawful rights and interests of foreign-invested companies in accordance with [the] law, and ensure their rights to equal participation in government procurement and independent innovation,” Mr Xi said yesterday. “China will never close its door to the outside world.”

In a meeting with a group of Chinese and international business leaders, the new Chinese president also pledged to step up protection of intellectual property rights, a key concern of global companies who say they are subject to pervasive intellectual property theft, corporate espionage and hacking in China aimed at stealing their technology and business secrets.