Whether the development-oriented the “Belt and Road initiative” requires the construction of intellectual property rules? This paper studies the impact of intellectual property protection on the outward direct investment by taking the World Economic Forum’s intellectual property protection indicators as core explanatory variables, using the panel data model. It is found that strengthening of IPR protection by host countries has a significant positive effect on China’s OFDI stock. There are two notable features of this effect. One is that the effect is stronger in the countries along the “Belt and Road” than other countries, and the other is that it is stronger in countries with lower IPR protection and weaker in countries with higher protection. As most of the countries along the “Belt and Road” are developing countries, with a relatively lower level of intellectual property protection, Chinese enterprises will counter more imitation problems when they invest in these countries. These countries must be urged to strengthen the protection of intellectual property in bilateral or multilateral agreements. The conclusion provides an empirical basis for strengthening rule construction in the “Belt and Road Initiative”.