Zhao was born in
Xinmin,
Liaoning,
Manchukuo, on January 30, 1941. In 1959, he was accepted to the
University of Science and Technology of China and graduated in 1964. After university, he was assigned to the Institute of Physics,
Chinese Academy of Sciences as a researcher. In December 1973, he joined the
Chinese Communist Party. That same year, he was sent abroad to study at the expense of the government. He was educated in the
University of Cambridge from February 1974 to September 1975. In 1979, he became deputy director of Superconductor Classification Laboratory at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1987 he was elected a fellow of the
World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), and two years later he was elected a fellow of the
World Ceramic Academy. In 1988,
Chinese University of Hong Kong conferred on him an Honorary Doctor of Science. In 1991 he became a member of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was director of Division of Mathematics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences from 1994 to 2000. ==Papers==