Zhu was a trainee in Yuehua Entertainment before his debut. In 2014, Zhu admitted into the Shanghai Theatre Academy as the first Chinese dance major, after winning first place in the Chinese Dance Theater Competition of National Vocational Vocal Skills Competition.
Zhu participated in the Korean boy groupsurvival reality show, "Produce 101" which aired on Mnet in 2017. He was eventually eliminated on episode 8 with a total vote of 330,058.
2018-Present: Idol Producer, debut with Nine Percent, NEXT and solo activities
After his elimination in the Korean series Produce 101 Season 2, he participated in a similar Chinese survival boy band show, Idol Producer. Zhu's performance in the show brought his rise to fame, and eventually garnered a total amount of 11,938,786 votes in the last episode. He debuted as a member of project group "Nine Percent" after placing 6th overall. On June 21, 2018, Zhu debuted as the leader of C-Pop group "NEXT" with the song "Wait a Minute". On June 23, 2018, Zhu and other members of NEXT held their first fan meeting in Beijing, China. On December 2, Yuehua Entertainment confirmed that Zhu would be releasing his first solo single titled "The Winter Light" the following day and that he would also be releasing a single early next year. The single sold over one million digital copies within the first three minutes of its release and over two million within an hour. Following "The Winter Light", Zhu released a single titled "Green Christmas". On March 18, 2019, Zhu released a new single called "待签收". On September 16, the first teaser for his first solo mini album came out. The single "Flip" came out on September 23, followed by the rest of the songs "都要好好的" and "旁观者" on September 27. Within six days of release Chapter Z became the best selling music on Netease of the year with 8 million albums sold. On October 3, the teaser for the music video for "Flip" came out, with the official music video dropping on October 10. On May 6, he came out with his new single "Empty Space" featuring his ex-groupmate Wang Ziyi.
Endorsements
In 2018 Zhu was chosen by multiple brands. He endorsed hygiene products such as Head & Shoulders and Oral-B as well as clothing brand Calvin Klein, technology giant Huawei and beauty brands Olay and Perfect Diary. In 2019 he also endorsed products by leading camera manufacturer Canon and beauty brands Nivea among others.
