UC Chile Students Explore Innovative Solutions to Combat Poverty in China
After a year taking part in the international program China-Latam Youth Challenge to Alleviate Poverty, organized by Tsinghua University and hosted by UC Chile, four UC Chile students from the winning teams travelled to China to participate in a study internship as part of the program.
photo_camera During the trip, they visited places such as the Great Wall of China, research centers, and the Tsinghua University campus. (Photo courtesy of the participants)
They traveled from Chile to China on January 16, but this experience in leadership and innovation began much earlier: in March of 2025, Isidora Zavala, Diego Urzúa, Nicolás Avendaño, and Carlos Zapata met for the first time to participate in the program China-Latam Youth Challenge to Alleviate Poverty.
Alongside them, hundreds of students from Chile, China, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, and other Latin American countries launched the second edition of this program, which aims to bring young people together to develop innovative projects that address multidimensional poverty on a global scale. Over the course of nearly a year, the participants progressed through the various stages of the competition and formed international teams.
The final round took place from August 20 to 22 in an event in which six finalist teams presented their projects to an evaluation committee composed of experts from Tsinghua University, UC Chile, University of Chile, and the Ministry of Social Development and Family.
“I was motivated by the opportunity to contribute from my discipline to devising a solution that could alleviate poverty.” – Nicolás Avendaño, UC Chile Law student.
This program is aimed at promoting mutual understanding, teamwork, and creative thinking among students from different countries as a tool for making a positive impact on the efforts to address global challenges.
Exchange of experiences, new ideas, and cultural immersion
Members of the finalist teams are given the opportunity to participate in a one-week study internship in Tsinghua University, where they gain first-hand insight into China’s strategies to address poverty. The experience includes lectures, guided tours, and meetings that broaden the participants’ perspectives and help them identify new opportunities for Chile.
This is how the four UC Chile students, along with students from other Chilean and Latin American institutions, travelled to China this summer. They were welcomed by academics and specialists of Tsinghua University, who coordinated the itinerary.
“I was surprised by how advanced their technology is and how they support the work of universities and their students in innovation to contribute to the country’s development.” – Isidora Zavala, student from UC Chile College UC in Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
During their first days in Beijing, the students toured the campus of Tsinghua University, explored its facilities, and visited various centers and institutes. One of the first stops was the Institute for Accessibility Development, where they immersed themselves in an ecosystem of interdisciplinary innovation focused on promoting a more inclusive society by transforming spaces—from design to habits—to make them more accessible.
“What has surprised me the most is the capacity of public policies in China to boost the local economies in very specific areas,” highlighted Diego Urzúa, UC Chile Master’s student of Psychology.
They also visited the Chilean Embassy in China, where they met with the ambassador and members of the diplomatic corps.
They visited the Human-Computer Integration Center, an innovation hub dedicated to developing technological solutions to address biological challenges, such as artificial throats, facial sensors, and artificial skin, and integrating artificial intelligence into some of their processes.
“I was impressed by how well everything was organized—in China—to serve a social purpose. (…) We visited centers that allocated food resources to local high schools.” – Nicolás Avendaño, referring to the Rural Revitalization Center at Tsinghua University.
They also visited other tourist sites, business centers, and markets, in an immersive experience in Chinese culture: “Seeing how sharing meals at the table is prioritized, how large the Tsinghua campus is, or witnessing the immense progress made in electric cars, those were experiences that gave me insights that I didn’t have before,” remarks Diego Urzúa.
About the program’s new edition
From December through March 30, the call for applications is open for new students from Latin America to join the China-Latam Challenge to Alleviate Poverty. Participants will spend three months developing innovative projects that address different aspects of multidimensional poverty, which will be presented to a panel of experts in August of this year.
