By mistake, police ran to China (9)
I believe the answer is:
porcelain
'china' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'by mistake police ran' is the wordplay.
'by mistake' is an anagram indicator.
'police'+'ran'='policeran'
'policeran' with letters rearranged gives 'PORCELAIN'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for porcelain that I've seen before include "Form of ceramic" , "Fine white China" , "Translucent pottery" , "Fine ceramic ware" , "Crockery" .)