Zaobao has an East Asian correspondent network spanning Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo.

[5] The two Chinese broadsheets in Singapore merged in March 1983 in anticipation of the impending falling readership, due to English being taught as first language in Singaporean schools.

[15] According to Radio Free Asia, content about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre has been censored from the Zaobao website when accessed from Hong Kong.

[16] A 2019 study by Scotland-based researcher Daniel Hammond found that Zaobao played the role of "China’s critical friend in Southeast Asia", using the region as a means to deliver its concerns and criticisms of the country's actions such as on the South China Sea, while covering the China-Singapore relationship in an overwhelmingly positive manner.

[14] Singapore's ambassador to the US Lui Tuck Yew also responded by saying that in his former role as Singaporean Ambassador to China, he often heard Zaobao’s readers of various nationalities affirm the paper’s balanced coverage and uniquely Singaporean viewpoints, adding that it was "misguided for American news outlets to expect Zaobao to resemble the Washington Post, or for Singapore to follow either the United States or China.

"[19][20] At the September 2023 centennial celebration of the newspaper, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong said he was "heartened that Zaobao has been unwavering in its principles, and has remained independent and objective in its news reporting.

"[22][non-primary source needed] The paper is published daily by SPH and usually hits newsstands and homes by 5 am local time.

[citation needed] The Sunday edition is titled zbSunday (早报星期天), with a tabloid-format lifestyle supplement pull-out zbWeekly (早报周刊).

[26] The Zaobao online website is occasionally blocked in mainland China, or has its posts removed on Sina Weibo.