Franz holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from King’s College London, graduating with Upper Second-Class Honours and a distinction dissertation. His undergraduate research centred on nationalism, state identity, and the politics of conflict, with a particular focus on East Asian geopolitics and Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations. This grounding gave him a rigorous analytical lens on how states construct power, negotiate identity, and contest their position within the international order.
Professionally, Franz has built experience across financial services, technology, and community-facing sectors. At Honour International Investment Limited in Hong Kong, he served as CEO Assistant, providing structured analytical support on corporate risk and strategic decision-making at the executive level. Prior to this, he worked at Elequant Technology in Shanghai as a Research Assistant, contributing to quantitative system development and managing a professional knowledge-sharing community. An earlier internship at a Shanghai property management firm deepened his understanding of stakeholder engagement and frontline service delivery.
At IIPP, Franz is motivated to bring his international relations background into dialogue with innovation economics and public policy — developing a globally informed perspective on how institutions shape markets, govern emerging technologies, and deliver public value. He is particularly interested in how strategic and public sector consultancy can serve as a lever for systemic change, and aspires to work at the intersection of geopolitical analysis, institutional design, and advisory practice across the UK, China, and the broader Asia-Pacific region.
Beyond his studies, Franz is a music producer and vocalist, a martial artist, and an independent researcher of political theory and ideology. He is trilingual in Chinese, English, and Japanese.
Nationality: Chinese
