Zhiyuan Chen studied at the Shanghai Conservatory, making his debut as a bass-baritone in 2013 at the Carnac Music Festival. In 2014 he sang at the Shanghai Comic Opera Festival in Die Fledermaus and appeared as Simone in Gianni Schicchi. At the Argelès Opera Festival in 2015 he sang Leporello in Don Giovanni, and in 2016 Agamemnon in La Belle Hélène at the French School in Shanghai. A winner of various international competitions, in 2017 he took the title-role in Don Pasquale at Argelès.