Born in Huangmei County, Hubei Province, Zhou grew up during the Cultural Revolution. In 1978, he was part of the first batch of students admitted through the National College Entrance Examinations to the Southwest University of Political Science & Law. Zhou obtained a master's degree in law in 1986. He joined the Communist Party of China during his studies, in 1983. In November 1995, he was elected secretary of the central secretariat of the Chinese Communist Youth League at the 4th plenary session of the 13th CYL central committee. In June 1998, he was elevated to first secretary of the CYL central secretariat, and was re-elected in July 2003. In February 2007, Zhou was appointed governor of Hunan, after a five-month period that saw him made a standing committee member and vice secretary of the CPC Hunan committee, and then acting governor of Hunan, appointed by the standing committee of the 10th Hunan People's Congress; he resigned as first secretary of the central secretariat of the CYL in December. He was re-elected governor of Hunan on January 24, 2008. On April 25, 2010, Zhou, then aged 50, was appointed Communist Party Secretary of Hunan, becoming one of the youngest provincial party chiefs in the country. His rise to power is comparable to that of then-Party general secretary Hu Jintao and then-Vice-Premier Li Keqiang; all three menhad background in the Communist Youth League of China. In March 2013, the NPC installed Zhou as the President of the Supreme People's Court. Like other top Chinese leaders, Zhou spoke often of promoting the 'rule of law' and was thought to be aligned with CPC general secretary Xi Jinping's stated ambition to make the court system in China fairer. Indeed, in his first few years in office, Zhou overturned several court decisions as unjust, including the wrongful execution of Nie Shubin in 1995; granted judges more independence; and restricted local officials’ influence over court rulings, although ultimately courts at all levels had to answer to the party leadership. But in 2017, speaking at a Supreme People's Court meeting on January 14, Zhou warned the courts against the 'idea of judicial independence'. He said:
must firmly resist the western idea of “constitutional democracy”, “separation of powers” and “judicial independence”. These are erroneous western notions that threaten the leadership of the ruling Communist Party and defame the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law. We have to raise our flag and show our sword to struggle against such thoughts. We must not fall into the trap of western thoughts and judicial independence. We must stay firm on the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law.
