In 1988 he became a member of the Standing Committee and then was appointed vice-governor of his home province.[2] Zhaosu was then appointed a governor and served there from 1999 to 2001 and from that year till 2003 was a Communist Party Committee Secretary of Gansu. On 22 April 2002, he was elected as the secretary of the provincial party committee at the 10th meeting of the CCP Gansu Provincial Committee. From January 2003 to August of the same year, he served as the director of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial People's Congress.