【Objective】The aim of this study was to clarify the response of different rice varieties to zinc fertilizer and the differences in the effects of different zinc fertilizer application methods on rice yield and grain zinc bioavailability.【Method】The field experiments were conducted in 2019 and 2020. The first field experiment (Experiment 1) in 2019 aimed to explore the response of different rice varieties to zinc fertilizer application. Four rice varieties were selected, including Xiadao No.1, Xiadao No.2, Runxiangyu, and Longliangyou3463, with two treatments of no zinc application (CK) and zinc application (+Zn), and the differences in the response of different rice varieties to zinc fertilizer application were investigated. The second field experiment (Experiment 2) in 2020 aimed to explore the effects of different zinc fertilizer application methods on rice yield and grain zinc bioavailability. Based on the experiment in 2019, two high-yielding rice varieties, including Xiadao No.1 and Longliangyou3463, were selected to continue the study. Six treatments were set: no zinc application to soil (S0F0), soil application of 15 kg·hm-2 zinc (S1F0), soil application of 30 kg·hm-2 zinc (S2F0), foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO4 at flowering stage (S0F1), soil application of 15 kg·hm-2 zinc + foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO4 at flowering stage (S1F1), and soil application of 30 kg·hm-2 zinc + foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO4 at flowering stage (S2F1), and the differences in the effects of different zinc application methods on yield and grain zinc bioavailability of two rice varieties were investigated.【Result】In experiment 1, there were significant differences in the response of different rice varieties to zinc fertilizer. After zinc application, the yields of Xiadao No.1, Xiadao No.2, Runxiangyu, and Longliangyou3463 increased by 4.4%, 11.6%, 7.9%, and 4.8%, respectively. The increase in yield was mainly attributed to the increase in effective panicle number and grain-setting rate. Compared with CK, the average effective panicle number of the four rice varieties with zinc application increased by 19.8%, 3.9%, 9.9%, and 24.0%, respectively, and the average grain-setting rate increased by 5.4%, 9.7%, 6.7%, and 4.0%, respectively. In addition, the molar ratio of phytic acid to zinc in brown rice and polished rice of the four rice varieties with zinc application decreased by averages of 24.3%, 30.9%, 21.3%, and 37.2%, and 29.5%, 32.4%, 33.9%, and 35.3%, respectively. In experiment 2, there were significant differences in the effects of different zinc application methods on the yield and grain zinc availability of Xiadao No.1 and Longliangyou3463. Soil zinc application significantly outperformed foliar zinc spray in increasing yield, and foliar zinc spray further increased rice yield when it combined with soil zinc application. Compared with S0F0, the yields of Xiadao No.1 under S0F1, S1F0, S1F1, S2F0, and S2F1 increased by 12.1%, 14.1%, 17.2%, 22.2%, and 29.3%, respectively, and the yields of Longliangyou3463 under S0F1, S1F0, S1F1, S2F0, and S2F1 increased by 2.0%, 10.1%, 15.2%, 28.3%, and 31.3%, respectively. The effects of different zinc application methods on grain zinc availability varied, and there were significant differences in grain zinc availability between the two rice varieties. Foliar spray had a significantly greater zinc enhancement effect on grain compared with soil application, and the bioavailable zinc content in grains of Longliangyou3463 was higher than that in Xiadao No.1.【Conclusion】Selecting high-yielding and zinc-enriched rice varieties (Longliangyou3463) and adopting appropriate zinc fertilizer application methods(30 kg·hm-2 soil application + foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO4 at flowering stage) could achieve the goals of increasing rice yield and enhancing rice zinc nutrition, thereby helping to increase income and improve rice quality.