In 1966, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, Jiao was brought to be persecuted and forced to work in the fields instead of acting.
In 1987, he earned critical acclaim for his performance as He Jingming in Engineers, for which he received a Best Supporting Actor at the 8th Flying Apsaras Awards.
Jiao's role as the Kangxi Emperor on the historical television series Yongzheng Dynasty (1997) brought him to the attention of a wider audience; he received an Outstanding Supporting Actor at the 17th China TV Golden Eagle Awards and won a Best Actor at the 19th Flying Sky Television Awards.
In 2000, he played the role of Zhong Chaolin in Hu Mei's television series Loyal, for which he received an Audience's Choice for Actor nomination at the 20th China TV Golden Eagle Awards.
In 2006, he earned an Outstanding Supporting Actor nomination at the 27th Flying Sky Television Awards for his performance as Li Guorong in Return In Glory.
[10] In 2013, Jiao played the title role in All Quiet in Peking, co-starring Liu Ye, Chen Baoguo and Ni Dahong.