BEIJING (China) - The China men’s national team is filled with talents who can score in several different ways. Whether it’s the versatile Yi Jianlian or big man Zhou Qi, China has it.

Therefore, the large responsibility of setting up these scorers falls on the shoulders of China’s point guards. Fortunately, the program has been grooming a bright young floor general to direct the game plan at an early age.

Zhao Jiwei got off to a quick - and good start - playing for China. He represented the nation at the youth level back in 2011 at the U16 Asian Championship in Vietnam. Paired alongside longtime national team partner Zhou Qi, he helped China breeze through to another U16 title by winning each game with a margin of no less than 29 points.

The point guard prospect out of Liaoning continued to shine at the U17 World Cup in 2012. Zhao had impressive games against the likes of France and the Czech Republic to average 12.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.6 points per game.

After another solid run at the youth level at the U19 World Cup in 2013, it didn’t take long for Zhao to get his chances with the senior national team. At just 18 years old, Zhao made his debut for China at the FIBA Asia Challenge 2014.

Though he implied that there weren’t many differences playing at the youth and senior level for the national team, there was one glaring distinction.

“I was pretty young when I was in the youth team,” Zhao said. “There was much more pressure after I came into the senior team.”

Zhao grew up with the love for the game ever since at a young age. He mentions how the game suits him and how he’s been able to learn a lot from all the coaches who have mentored him from playing at Liaoning to the national team.

“I have benefited greatly from their inspiration and instructions.”

His coaches would have certainly been proud when Zhao stepped onto the center stage at Changsha in 2015 for his first Asia Cup appearance. It took only his second game in the Asia Cup to make an impact. In the inspiring coming from behind win against Korea, Zhao might not have scored much (3 points) and fouled out of the game, but he did also record 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

“I was very nervous and glad,” Zhao said of the experience playing at the Asia Cup at just only 20 years of age.

“It was a great honor to play for the national team.”

He continued with his solid contribution throughout the rest of the competition which resulted in another Asia Cup title for China - their 16^th of all-time.

Zhao is still a large part of the national team today as he grows into a more experienced point guard. He helps provide a contrasting style of play in the backcourt to that of his teammate, Guo Ailun. At only 24 years old, he’s already played in the Rio 2016 Olympics and World Cup 2019.

Still, he knows he has a lot to learn. He also knows who best to learn from.

“My big brothers Liu Wei and Yi Jianlian,” Zhao says of his national team legend role models. “They pay lots of attention to their daily training and diet and have a high degree of self-discipline. You can see that from their sports life span and that’s the reason I want to learn from them.”

Through the cultivation of everything he’s learned from his coaches and his role models, Zhao has developed to become a solid star in his own rights. Should he continue absorbing in knowledge from those around him and improving, fans will be able to expect many more positive performances from Zhao Jiwei and China.

FIBA