Motorsport activity in Zhuhai predates the permanent track. Racing took place on a street circuit in the city in 1993 and continued through 1996, when the purpose-built facility opened. The circuit was constructed with explicit ambitions of hosting Formula One, and it was included in the provisional 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar. However, the circuit failed to meet the technical standards required by the FIA, and China's Formula One debut ultimately occurred at the Shanghai International Circuit instead.
The project manager for the circuit's construction was Michael McDonough. The first international race held at the completed venue was the BPR Global GT Series in 1996. Following its opening the circuit quickly became a hub for regional motorsport, with teams from Hong Kong and Macau establishing bases within its garage facilities.
ZIC holds FIA Grade II certification.
The circuit runs clockwise and covers 4.319 km with 14 turns — nine right-handers and five left-handers. The original design contained 16 corners, but corners 7, 8, and 9 were consolidated into a single corner following a layout change request from the FIM. The start/finish straight is the longest at 900 metres and 14 metres wide at its broadest point. A shorter internal straight measures 500 metres. The track's mix of hard braking hairpins, tight corners, and accelerating sections toward long straights places particular emphasis on brake management.
The fastest qualifying lap ever recorded at the circuit was a 1:23.203, set by Michael Ammermüller driving a Lola A1GP for A1 Team Switzerland on 16 December 2007 during the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season. Roberto Moreno set the fastest unofficial lap at the venue in a 2007 Panoz DP01 Champ Car during a demonstration run on 30 November 2006, clocking 1:23.612.
ZIC hosted rounds of the FIA GT Championship in 1997 — the inaugural season of that series — and again in 1999, 2004, 2005, and 2007. The 2007 race was won by the All-Inkl.com Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT driven by Christophe Bouchut and Stefan Mucke.
The circuit hosted the A1 Grand Prix in December 2007, with Michael Ammermüller winning the Sprint race for Team Germany and Narain Karthikeyan taking the Feature race for Team India.
Endurance racing came to ZIC in May 2004 with the FIM Endurance World Championship Zhuhai 6 Hours — the first international motorcycle endurance race held at the venue, won by GMT 94 Racing. The circuit subsequently hosted the 2010 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 1000 km of Zhuhai and the 2011 6 Hours of Zhuhai.
In 2006, Zhuhai hosted Champ Car testing, when Roberto Moreno drove a DP01 around the circuit in a demonstration run marking the first time a Champ Car had operated in China. A multi-year deal was announced to bring Champ Car racing to ZIC, but scheduling conflicts and the eventual unification of Champ Car with the Indy Racing League prevented a race from materialising.
Asian Formula Three Championship rounds were held at the circuit in 2002 and 2005 through 2008. The Asian Festival of Speed ran at ZIC across multiple years from its inception in 1994, with a record attendance of 33,000 recorded in October 2006.
The circuit became the de facto home of the Hong Kong Touring Car Championship and the Macau Touring Car Championship, both of which hold the majority of their races at ZIC. Zhuhai International Circuit Co Ltd also served as a promoter and organiser of international events, including the FIA GT Championship in China.
ZIC established the China Superbike Championship in 2007 in partnership with the China Motorcycle Sports Association, and organises the Circuit Hero and Circuit Hero GT series for domestic participants. A karting facility was added to the complex in 2004.
In 2003, Dragon Hill Corporation Ltd — part of Malaysia's LBS Bina Group — acquired control of Lamdeal Investment Ltd, which holds a 60 percent stake in Zhuhai International Circuit Ltd, for US$1. In June 2024, LBS Bina announced the sale of its entire stake to Huafa Urban Operation (HK) Ltd for RMB 192.18 million, with Huafa also settling outstanding loans owed to LBS Bina by Lamdeal and its subsidiaries.