Innovation has an increasing role in the economic progress of China. With Chinese patent applications surpassing those of Western countries, we aim to understand what is the actual perception and understanding of the value and importance of intellectual property (IP)on the ground in China. This paper reports insights from a field trip across 3key innovation clusters in China (Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai). We conduct an ethnographic studyusing20semi-structuredinterviews with academics and researchers, representatives from enterprises and economic service firms as well as university leaders and policy makers. The results reveal a high level of IP awareness in China. Whether academics, governmental representatives, entrepreneurs or venture capital executives, all interviews reveal a strong understanding and visibility of the importance of IP. Governmental rules for subsidizing patent applications seems to be changing in China in order to move from quantity to quality. While at least the leading universities have established technology transfer offices (TTOs), there still a need for improve service offerings given that these are still offered by IP law firms. Moreover, leading universities offer occasional IP guest lectures and they are in the process of installing IP. In addition, investors seem to understand the importance of IP when making investment decisions. We identify a positive speed of which Chinese innovation system actors are becoming increasingly IP savvy. At the same time, China’s large market size makes it less attractive to consider international IP strategies in early stages of a business. After succeeding in China, companies tend to prefer expanding into other Asian markets first, before venturing into Europe or the US.