Dr Lin Zeng was born and raised in China. She studied English language and literature at Beijing International Studies University and then became a lecturer there upon receiving her master's degree. She later conducted her doctoral research in Chinese contemporary fiction and its translation at the University of Otago. Lin Zeng is a translator herself. She began translating from 2006. Her published translation works include Peter Drucker's A Functioning Society, and Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue.
Lin Zeng is currently teaching Chinese literature in Auckland, New Zealand.