BERLIN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Germany's innovation elite hailed China's pledge to promote cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the two countries and to strengthen protection of the intellectual property rights (IPR).

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made the pledge here in a speech on Thursday at the China-Germany Forum: Shaping Innovation Together.

Li said that Germany has some 1,300 "hidden champion" companies and China has hundreds of thousands of high-tech SMEs, and that "China is ready to work with Germany to set up a government mechanism for SME cooperation, and promote networked and clustered innovation cooperation."

Christian Stienen, CEO of Germany's Juelich Studies Center, described Li's speech as "very informative," saying innovative and constructive SMEs act as the backbone of German economy.

Wang Zi, general manager of the Berlin branch of China's innovation incubator Techcode, said he was encouraged by the Chinese government's pledge to attach importance to innovative SMEs.X Gong Xin, manager of international sales at Germany's FemtoFiberTec GmbH, said he believes that the cooperation will expand from between big firms to grassroots enterprises in the two countries.

"In the process of innovation cooperation, China strictly protects IPRs of enterprises and does not require compulsory transfer of technology," Li said during the speech at the China-Germany forum.

Manfred Jagiella, CEO of Germany's EH Conducta, said China's willingness to strengthen the IPR protection is "impressive," which will become "a cornerstone for the bilateral cooperation."

Stefan Magerstedt, head of KHS company's innovation department, said Li's speech orients China's future development, and that China attaching importance to the IPR of both Chinese and foreign businesses is vital to upgrading the bilateral cooperation.

Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, a sinologist at the University of Tuebingen, said he sees many cooperation opportunities ahead not only in the fields of technology and manufacturing, but also in the culture sector.

In addition, Li called in his speech for the two countries to speed up efforts to synergize their development strategies, namely, China's innovation-driven development strategy, "Made in China 2025" and "Internet plus," and Germany's "Industry 4.0" and High-Tech Strategy, and to roll out more pilot projects.

Dieter Spath, president of Germany's National Academy of Science and Engineering, said that the manufacturing industries in China and Germany overlap in some areas, leading to competitions. He hopes the two countries will upgrade the industrial chain and promote coordination.

Heiner Lang, senior vice president of Bosch Rexroth AG, said the Chinese premier's speech at the forum encourages him to continue the cooperation with his Chinese business partners and the investment in China.