Communists should be the first to be concerned about other people and country and the last to enjoy themselves.

In 1980 after serving under Hua Guofeng as vice-premier for six months Zhao replaced Hua as premier with a mandate to introduce his rural reforms across China. Zhao was appointed Party Secretary of Sichuan in 1975 effectively the province's highest-ranking official. This precipitated a political debate which grew more heated through the winter of 1988 to 1989.

He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987 and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989. His economic reform policies and sympathies to student demonstrators during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 placed him at odds with some members of the party leadership including Premier Li Peng.