At the end of 1987, he resigned from Hohai University without hesitation and went to Taihu Knitting and Garment General Factory (the predecessor of HOdo Group), which was still in the start-up stage. He became the first university student in Jiangsu Province to resign from public office and join a private enterprise. He started at the workshop basic-level and worked his way up to the top of the company.

In September 2004, Haijiang Zhou was elected as the Group president by an overwhelming majority of votes, making him the first person to be elected as president of a private company.  He introduced a series of bold reformations and innovations when he took charge, such as new corporate image, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the group, promoting competition for positions, exploring and practicing the "Modern Enterprise System with Chinese characteristics," which rapidly improved the corporate image, brand image and performance of HOdo Group.

Over the years, Haijiang Zhou has earned hundreds of honours above the provincial level and held many social positions. He was awarded "Excellent Builder of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" in 2004. Moreover, he became the cover character of the world-famous financial magazine Forbes and was awarded the "May 4th Medal of Chinese Youth" in 2005. In 2006, he was invited to do a public speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In October 2009, he boarded the agricultural achievement float and participated in the mass parade of the 60th anniversary of National Day as the only representative of township enterprises. In April 2010, he was elected National Model Worker. Furthermore, Haijiang Zhou was elected the 2nd Council President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in June 2016, Hong Kong, China. In June 2017, Haijiang Zhou's family was awarded "the most beautiful family" in China 2017. What is more, Haijiang Zhou was nominated for the Sixth National Moral Model Award in November 2017. In 2018, Haijiang Zhou was selected as one of "One Hundred Outstanding Private Entrepreneurs in the 40 Years of Reform and Opening Up" released by the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. He was selected as "Person of the Hour in 40 Years of Private Economy". On October 1, 2019, he was invited to attend a series of celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China (People's Republic of China).On September 8, 2020, Zhou Haijiang won the title of "National Advanced Individual in Combating COVID-19".