Born 1943 in Guangdong, Professor Zhao Wei (趙偉) graduated from the Department of Journalism of Renmin University of China (中國人民大學新聞系新聞攝影專業). After working for a newspaper in Bayannur, Inner Mongolia (內蒙古巴彥淖爾報社) for eight years, he entered China News Service (CNS) (中國新聞社) and became the director and senior editor of its photography department.

Since working for CNS, his photography and news reporting work has taken him to every province in Chinese mainland. He has covered major events such as the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing and the return of Hong Kong in 1997. He also established and managed the online platform of China News Service (Beijing) and the CNS Photo Network Center (cnsphoto.com), and helped China News Service edit and publish several large photography books such as Jin Xiu Shen Zhou (Land of Splendor) (錦繡神州) and Kua Yue Jiu Qi (Going Beyond 1997) (跨越九七). He has also published a collection of his own works in the portrait album Duo Cai Zhong Sheng (The Breathtaking Diversity of Life) (多彩眾生). For his contributions to the news and photography industry, he has been granted the State Council’s special allowance for experts.

After retiring, he took up the post of senior editor and consultant for the CNS Photo Network Center, and now teaches courses such as photo journalism, documentary photography and online news dissemination at Minzu University of China (中國民族大學), Beijing Film Academy (北京電影學院), Beijing Geely University (北京吉利大學), Beijing Xicheng Economic Science University (北京經濟科技大學), Beijing Jinghai Institute (京海學院) and other educational institutions as a visiting professor.