Zhengfa Chen was born in Jiangsu Province in China and after completion of his secondary education, as with many educated youth, worked for several years in the countryside. He was enrolled among the first group of university students after the Cultural Revolution and has worked at Anhui University since 1982. He studied at the University of New England and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Literature in 1987. From September 1999 he served for a year as visiting scholar at the University of Sydney. In addition to teaching Australian Literature in the People's Republic of China, he has received appointments as Deputy Director of the School of Foreign Studies of Anhui University, Director of the Oceanic Literature Research Institute, Council Member of Chinese Translators Association and Vice Chairman of Anhui Translators Association.
In addition to publishing critical articles on Australian fiction, Chen has translated several works of Australian poetry, Australian and American fiction and has compiled dictionaries and English language instructional books. He has also worked as a translator of works into Chinese.
