France's prime minister says the police chief of Paris had been sacked and the government would shut down yellow-vest protests if violent groups were identified among the ranks of protesters.

President Emmanuel Macron and his government have been forced back on the defensive after rioters ransacked Champs Elysée luxury boutiques and torched cafés and a bank on Saturday in the latest violence against Macron's pro-business reforms.

"From next Saturday, we will ban yellow-vest protests in neighbourhoods that have been the worst hit as soon as we see sign of the presence of radical groups and their intent to cause damage," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in a televised speech.

A man stands in front of a damaged Lacoste shop on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Saturday. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters)

Some 10,000 people participated in Saturday's protests in the capital, according to police estimates, including a hard core of about 1,500 troublemakers who Philippe said were bent on "looting, destroying property and causing injury.

"These were criminal acts. The government's response must be strong," Philippe sad.

A new Paris police chief would be appointed on Wednesday, he said, and police officers on the ground will be given more decision-making autonomy and handed extra equipment including drones.

Last month the French parliament passed a bill backed by Macron's government to further prevent violence during protests and to help authorities maintain order. But the "anti-troublemakers" law has not yet taken effect since the government's constitutional council must assess it first.

It would authorize regional prefects to prevent people seen as a serious threat to public order from protesting, and would force protesters involved in violence to pay for damages. It would also make it a crime for protesters to conceal their faces, punishable by up to one year in prison and a 15,000-euro ($22,700 Cdn) fine.

The bill has been criticized by rights groups, opposition members and even members of Macron's centrist party as going too far in restricting freedoms.