A New York Times article (August 1, 2011) describes fine pearls being developed in China to compete with Tahitian pearls, but at 10-15 % of the price.   Using proprietary technology and custom equipment to sort pearls enables the Chinese firms such as Grace Pearl, the firm manages to compete for high end products.  Newer technologies developed by the firm, some in collaboration with Zhejiang University, use genome sequencing of mussles and live tissue to develop purple, pink and bronze pearls that do not use dyes to get their color.  Does this approach – development of proprietary technology and use of high end equipment, suggest a different China manufacturing capability ? Given the need to protect home grown technologies, should we expect a greater enforcement of intellectual property in China ? Does the industry- university collaboration for technology development, described in the article, portend a new research direction in China ?