The Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), with the approval by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, was established on April 2, 2017 by East China Normal University as the leading unit, in collaboration with Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and the People's Government of Chongming District. IEC is the institution supported by the“Island Atmosphere and Ecology” discipline under the Shanghai Class IV Peak Disciplinary Development Program.

IEC's mission is 1) to establish scientific, technological, and policy pillars to support the construction of Chongming to be a world-class ecological island and 2) to establish an international research platform for ecology and Earth system sciences. It actively serves the national strategy and meets the requirements of China and the Shanghai city to build a world-class ecological island of Chongming. It targets to develop multiple scientific disciplines, meet the scientific and societal demand nationally and internationally, follow the principle of collaborative innovation, and integrate interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral innovation strengths. It takes advantage of the cluster of resources and strengths from multiple universities and institutions to create an incentive synergy to stimulate innovation and creativity.

At present, IEC has four centers (Chongming Center for Atmospheric Environment Security, Chongming Center for Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chongming Center for Disaster Risk and Prevention, Chongming Center for Intelligent Monitoring and Simulation) and one think tank (Chongming High-end Think Tank of Ecological Civilization). IEC is located in the scenic Chongming Island in the Yangzi River estuary of Shanghai. There are more than 80 full-time or part-time researchers working at IEC.