China is to toughen its intellectual property rights (IPR) protection by striving for judicial interpretations on stricter law enforcement by the end of this year, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said at a meeting with Mike Eskew, Chairman of the US-China Business Council, and the council's President Robert Kapp on the occasion of a China fair on investment and trade.

The Eighth China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) opened in Xiamen, a coastal city in east China's Fujian province, on Wednesday. More than 300 overseas delegations, as well as Chinese representatives, attended the four-day annual investment promotion event.

IPR disputes between companies should be resolved by judicial procedures rather than government intervention, said Wu. "The government is expected to create a sound environment for IPR protection," Wu added.

Wu also attended a seminar on IPR protection Tuesday, at which a dozen foreign investors raised complaints and offered suggestions on the issue.

Wu said she appreciated the efforts made by the US-China Business Council to push forward Sino-US relations, hoping more US companies would invest in China.

Eskew said his council would make more efforts to promote trade relations between the United States and China.

Between January and June, the total Sino-US trade volume reached 76.9 billion US dollars, up 36.5 percent over the same period of last year.