Mr Zhao completed his graduate study in Shanghai Maritime University in 1990, his training on international arbitration in Hong Kong in 1995, and his postgraduate study in China University of Political Science and Law in 2005 respectively. He was admitted to the bar since 1993.
Mr Zhao has extensive experience dealing with matters involving maritime and admiralty, ship building, offshore equipment building, offshore engineering, overseas infrastructure, international trade, financing trade, finance & insurance, finance lease, investment and corporate transaction, and in particular inbound and outbound litigation and arbitration. He has successfully managed and dealt with a variety of complex and high-value disputes. Mr Zhao has also advised on contentious and non-contentious matters for a number of large enterprises, which has won him good compliment in legal circle.
Mr Zhao is well recognized as one of the top commercial lawyers in and outside China. Over the years, he was awarded by Asialaw Profiles as “Asialaw Leading Lawyers” for several times. He was awarded by Asia Legal Business as “ALB China 2013 Top 10 China Litigators”, “ALB China 2017 Top 15 China Litigators” and “ALB China 2019 Top 15 China Litigators”. He was awarded by Guangzhou Lawyers Association as one of the 10 “Elite Foreign Business Lawyers of Guangzhou City” in 2018 and as “Leading Foreign-related Lawyer of Guangzhou” in 2022. From 2018 to 2022, Mr Zhao was successively ranked in “Shipping: Southern China” by Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific /Greater China Region Guide. He was listed in “International Arbitration” area by Benchmark Litigation 2021 China. Mr Zhao was also ranked in Shipping area by LEGALBAND Guide - Top Ranked Lawyers (2020, 2021 & 2022) . He was listed in “Dispute Resolution: Litigation” by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022.
