The closure of the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC) and the apparent absorption of the Research and Development Pharmaceutical Association Committee of China (RDPAC) into new institutional structures marks the end of an important chapter in the development of China’s modern intellectual property system. Founded during China’s WTO-accession era, both organizations played influential roles in fostering dialogue, advancing legal and regulatory reforms, and helping foreign and Chinese stakeholders identify areas of common interest. Drawing on examples ranging from anti-counterfeiting enforcement to pharmaceutical intellectual property reform, this article argues that their effectiveness often stemmed not from exerting pressure, but from aligning foreign experience with China’s evolving development priorities. Their disappearance reflects China’s transformation from a country primarily concerned with protecting foreign intellectual property into one with its own powerful innovation constituency. At the same time, it raises important questions about whether newer institutions can continue to represent concerns that uniquely affect foreign companies while preserving the technical exchanges, professional engagement, and practical cooperation that contributed to decades of intellectual property reform.