In 1996, Zhang entered the prestigious Central Academy of Drama in Beijing at the age of 17.

In 1998, while she was studying in Central Academy of Drama, Zhang was offered her first role by director Zhang Yimou in his film The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear prize at the 2000 Berlin International Film Festival. Zhang plays a country girl in love with the town’s young teacher, she won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Hundred Flowers Awards for her performance.

Zhang rose to international fame in 2000 with her role as Yu Jiaolong in Ang Lee’s re-visioned martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The movie’s success in the US and Europe helped her break into Hollywood. Zhang plays a young Manchu noblewoman who has secretly learned martial arts and runs off to become a wandering swordswoman rather than commit to an arranged marriage. This role won her the Most Promising Actress award at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards and Best Supporting Actress awards from the Independent Spirit Awards, as well as Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.

In 2002, Zhang co-starred in Hero alongside Tony Leung, directed by her early mentor Zhang Yimou. The film was a huge success in the English-speaking world and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe award in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. She then signed on to film an avant-garde drama film Purple Butterfly (2003), which competed in the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2005, Zhang featured in the critically acclaimed film Jasmine Women, adapted from Su Tong’s novel titled Women’s Lives. She won Best Actress at the Golden Rooster Awards for her performance. Next came Princess Raccoon (2005), directed by Japan’s Seijun Suzuki, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. For her role, Zhang took two weeks of singing and dancing lessons in Japan.

On 27 June 2005, Zhang accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), placing her among the ranks of those who are able to vote on the Academy Awards. In May 2006, Zhang was chosen as a jury member of Feature Films at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2005, Zhang was listed in TIME’s World’s 100 Most Influential People. They called her “China’s Gift to Hollywood”.

Zhang returned to China in 2006 for the Chinese wuxia film The Banquet, directed by Feng Xiaogang. The film is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

In 2007, Zhang performed the voice of Karai in the American animated film TMNT (2007).

Zhang obtained Hong Kong residency in 2007 through the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme for her contribution to the local film industry.

In 2008, she was awarded with the “Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema” at the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival.

Zhang was engaged to Israeli American venture capitalist Aviv Nevo until the couple separated in 2010. Zhang married Chinese rock musician Wang Feng in May 2015. On 27 December 2015, Zhang gave birth to their daughter Wang Xingxing. In January 2020, Zhang gave birth to their son.

In 2010, she was named “Actress of the Decade” by CineAsia. She previously won “Star of Tomorrow prize” back in 1999.

In 2012, Zhang starred next to Cecilia Cheung and Jang Dong-gun in the Chinese-Korean co-production Dangerous Liaisons, an adaptation of the French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, narrating Shanghai of the 1930s. Zhang was reportedly paid 20 million RMB (approximately $3.5 million) for the role. The same year, she was cast in the coming-of-age film Forever Young directed and written by Li Fangfang. The film premiered in January 2018.

In 2012, an overseas Chinese website Boxun falsely reported that Zhang Ziyi was paid $100 million to sleep with top Chinese officials. Zhang sued Boxun in a US court for defamation. In December 2013, Boxun settled the case after agreeing to pay an undisclosed amount to Zhang and issue a front-page apology. Zhang also won court cases in Hong Kong against Next Media over similar false reports in Apple Daily and Next Magazine.

In 2013, Zhang received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her significant contributions to the film industry.

In 2013, Zhang received the Order of Arts and Letter at the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Awards.

In 2014, Zhang starred in John Woo’s romantic epic The Crossing, based on the true story of the Taiping steamer collision and follows six characters and their intertwining love stories in Taiwan and Shanghai during the 1930s. Zhang plays a poor illiterate woman waiting for her soldier lover in 1930’s Shanghai.

In 2015, Zhang produced her third film Oh My God, which stars Zhang Yixing and Li Xiaolu. She made a cameo appearance in the film. Zhang next starred in romance anthology film Run for Love and crime epic The Wasted Times.

In 2016, Zhang was cast in J. J. Abrams’s science fiction thriller The Cloverfield Paradox, which premiered in 2018.

In 2017, Zhang was cast in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, playing a prominent character. In June 2018, she was confirmed to reprise her role in Godzilla vs. Kong.

In 2018, Zhang was cast in her first television series, Monarch Industry.

In 2019, Zhang starred in the adventure drama film The Climbers.