[3] Zhao got involved in politics in September 1987, when he was named a standing committee member of Changle County Federation of Trade Unions and head of its Production Protection Department.
[3] He was transferred to the CCP Changle County Committee in February 1992, where he finally became deputy magistrate in January 1998.
[3] In May 2004, Zhao was transferred to northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and appointed deputy director of the Land and Resources Department.
[3] He had also briefly served as secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission from December 2011 to February 2012 and party branch secretary of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Forestry Bureau from February 2012 to January 2013.
[4] In June 2021, he was elevated to executive vice chairman of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in addition to serving as vice chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since January 2022.