Foreign companies' intellectual property was safe in China, despite Western media reports to the contrary, Canadian and Chinese business leaders told an economic forum here Thursday.

The 4th Canada China Business Forum, sponsored by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Canada China Business Council, was crowded with more than 500 Canadian and Chinese executives and entrepreneurs, as well as members of the Chinese government delegation that is here with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

"So far, we have had no negative issues while doing business in China," Nicholas Sonntag, executive vice president of Westport Innovations, told a plenary session. His company develops technology that is used to convert diesel and gasoline engines to run on natural gas, hydrogen and other cleaner fuels.

"We have seen very positive shifts in the Chinese attitude to intellectual property protection," he said. Chinese businesses were quickly developing their own technological secrets and Chinese authorities were working harder to protect the intellectual property of domestic and foreign firms, he said.

"It's a win-win situation for them," Sonntag said.

His comments were echoed by Greg Shea, managing director of Chinese operations for Canadian-owned Research in Motion, which makes the popular Blackberry text messaging and cell phone.

"We've seen a dramatic increase in the number of patents (registered in China)," he said. "We have also seen a rise in patent litigation, most of it between Chinese corporations," he said. Shea said the patent disputes showed Chinese businesses and governments now took intellectual property rights seriously.

Dr. Richard Lu, executive vice president of Sky Solar Holdings, a Chinese company that builds solar electricity generating panels, said there had been a drastic change in Chinese government attitudes. Chinese businesses were now moving from manufacturing products using foreign designs and technology to creating new products.

Liu Daqing, vice president of ZTE Corp, which designs and builds electronic devices used in cellular and internet communication, said Chinese businesses wanted to move from products "that are 'Made in China' to ones that are 'Created in China'."

He said China now had the communications and transportation infrastructure, and had focused its attention on developing technologies that add much more value to products, ensuring the profitability of Chinese businesses.

How seriously the Chinese government took intellectual property protection was explained by Constantine Karayannopoulos, chief executive officer of Neo Material Technologies Inc., which makes products and alloys from rare earth elements in partnership with Chinese companies. He told the conference that, when secrets were stolen from his company's lab in Zibo, Shandong Province, national and local authorities worked hard to bring the thieves to justice. He said one of the thieves was sentenced to three years in prison.

"That gives you an idea of how seriously they take this problem," he said.