Zhao was born
Zhao Bingyi () in Beijing, on October 4, 1880. Zhao was from a
Catholic family. On October 28, 1926, he and five other Chinese priests (
Odoric Cheng Hede,
Simon Zhu Kaimin,
Joseph Hu Ruoshan,
Melchior Sun Dezhen, and
Aloysius Chen Guodi) were ordained bishops by
Pope Pius XI in
Rome. They were the first six Chinese Catholic bishops of modern times. Zhao had been one of the recommendations made by
Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe. Zhao was the personal secretary to
Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini, at the time Zhao became a bishop. The Holy See framed these consecrations as an important moment for indigenizing the Catholic Church. After leaving Rome, the new bishops toured Italy, France, Belgium, and Holland where crowds of local European Catholics greeted them. Zhao was appointed to the
apostolic vicariate of Xuanhua, which was a new vicariate created from north of Beijing. He died in Beijing, on October 14, 1927. ==References==