Zhao, who battled through four qualifying matches and then five more at the Crucible to become the first Asian player to win the world title in May, became the third Chinese player to make it into this year’s Masters quarter-finals.
A break of 76 gave Wilson the opening frame as the Englishman looked to win a Masters match for the first time after losing in the opening round in 2021 and 2024 against Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy respectively.
But Zhao ruthlessly punished loose safety shots from Wilson to win four frames in a row, thanks to breaks of 50, 51, 54 and 72, while Wilson only collected 10 points in that time.
However, Wilson battled to win the sixth frame to reduce the deficit to 2-4, only to then let a 51-0 advantage slip in frame seven.
Zhao made his fifth half-century break of the match, a 67 in frame eight, to seal a 6-2 victory – bizarrely the same score that has now been seen in all four completed matches.
Zhao, who had lost to John Higgins in round one in 2022 in his only other Masters appearance, said: “I enjoyed the night. This is my second time at Alexandra Palace so I really enjoyed it.
“I know he [Wilson] is a very good player so I just wanted to have big breaks and didn’t want him to come back so I just try to get better.
“Hopefully in the final we have two Chinese players. Tonight I could see a lot of fans supporting me so I feel very confident and I didn’t want to lose. This is my first win at Alexandra Palace.”
Zhao will now play either four-time world champion Higgins or two-time world runner-up Barry Hawkins in the next round.