What we do?

In March 2025, Dr. Mario Chong, affiliated researcher at the Center for China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CECHAP), participated in the FLAUC Fellow Program 2025 in the city of Shanghai, China, following an invitation from the Fudan Development Institute (FDDI).

During his stay, Dr. Chong delivered presentations related to his research titled “Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intention Predictors: A Cross-National Study from a Latin American Country and China”, conducted in collaboration with Professors Ana Luna and Andrea Lazarte from Universidad del Pacífico. He also explored academic collaboration opportunities with the institute’s research team. Additionally, institutional cooperation opportunities were discussed, aiming to facilitate future visits and exchange programs for students and faculty from the UP community.

Over the course of the four-week program, Dr. Chong participated in roundtables such as “International Humanitarian Aid in a Turbulent World Action” and worked on aligning his research with the National Development Momentum concept, a core focus of FDDI. He analyzed recent work on sustainable entrepreneurship and waste management using SEM methodologies, incorporating them as a foundation for his comparative study between Latin America and China.

Among other notable activities, he conducted a field visit to the city of Yiwu, renowned for its business and commercial ecosystem, which helped strengthen his understanding of China’s innovation landscape. In the final stage of his visit, he held meetings with the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and was interviewed to share his preliminary findings.

He also emphasized the importance of involving CECHAP in research lines connected to emerging fields such as Innovation and Design Engineering: “It is essential to move beyond viewing entrepreneurship solely as a path to wealth creation. Our research aims to identify the key factors influencing Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intention (SEI), integrating innovation, sustainability, and social purpose.”

Finally, he highlighted how experiences like his at FDDI enable CECHAP researchers to adopt a multidisciplinary approach, enriching academic output and expanding the impact of their research: “This experience has allowed us to tackle problems from multiple perspectives, blending knowledge from engineering, design, and the social sciences. Only in this way can we build comprehensive frameworks to address today’s real-world challenges. Collaborations like this not only strengthen our academic networks but also inspire a new generation of globally-minded researchers.”