Dr Zheng obtained his BSc and MSc from Southwest University, China and the University of Helsinki, Finland respectively. In 2001, Dr Zheng completed his Ph.D. in Plant Cell Biology under the supervision of Drs Chris Hawes at Oxford Brookes University and Ian Moore at the University of Oxford.

Following his doctoral study, Dr Zheng continued to work with Dr Moore at the University of Oxford for about a year as a post-doctoral research fellow in 2001. During his four year in Oxford, Dr Zheng was involved in the development of an innovative, GFP-based, in vivo imaging assay system for qualitative and quantitative membrane trafficking analysis in plant cells.

Dr Zheng did another post-doctoral research training with Dr. Ljerka Kunst (UBC, Canada) studying various aspects of lipid biosynthesis, lipid transport and lipid function in Arabidopsis in 2002-2006.