Zu Leiming was born in January 1967 in Sihong County, Jiangsu. He began his professional career after graduating in August 1989 from Hohai University, where he studied water resources planning and utilization. While working, he later pursued postgraduate studies in hydraulic structural engineering at the Beijing graduate division of the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, earning a master's degree in engineering in 1997.[3][4]
Zu joined the Ministry of Water Resources system early in his career and held a range of technical, research, and managerial positions. He worked with the Tianjin Luan River Water Diversion Project administration, including service as assistant director and as deputy commander of a major tunnel rehabilitation and reinforcement project. He subsequently served in policy and development research roles within the Ministry of Water Resources, advancing from section chief to director.[5]
From December 2002, Zu successively served as deputy director and party committee member of the Ministry's Development Research Center and as deputy director-general of the Department of Construction and Management. In August 2012, he was appointed water resources construction and management inspection commissioner at the vice-ministerial level. He later became director-general of the Department of Construction and Management in June 2017.[1]
In August 2018, Zu was transferred to head the Department of River and Lake Management of the Ministry of Water Resources and concurrently served as director of the Office of the River Chief System.[4] In September 2022, he was appointed party secretary of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission, and in October of the same year he additionally assumed the post of director of the commission, overseeing governance and protection of the Yellow River basin.[6][7]
In December 2025, Zu Leiming was appointed Vice Minister of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China.[8] Upon assuming this position, he stepped down as director of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission.[9][1]