Income Tax - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Taxable income	$ (139,074,895)	$ (50,384,176)	$ (37,512,212)
Provision for income taxes	0
Amounts of operating loss carry forwards	$ 204,693,365	$ 72,137,289	$ 34,716,071
PRC
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Statutory income tax rate	25.00%	25.00%	25.00%
Taxable income	$ (127,711,113)	$ (40,971,742)	$ (26,111,094)
Earliest Tax Year
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Operating loss carry forwards expiration	Dec. 31, 2020
Latest Tax Year
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Operating loss carry forwards expiration	Dec. 31, 2028
Zai Lab (AUST) Pty., Ltd
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Statutory income tax rate	30.00%
Taxable income	$ 0	0	0
Provision for income taxes	$ 0	0	0
Zai Lab (US) LLC
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Statutory income tax rate	21.00%
Taxable income	$ 0	0	0
Provision for income taxes	$ 0	0	0
Zai Lab (Hong Kong) Limited
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Statutory income tax rate	16.50%
Taxable income	$ 0	0	0
Provision for income taxes	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Zai Lab (Shanghai) Co., Ltd
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Statutory income tax rate	25.00%
Zai Lab (Suzhou) Co., Ltd
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Statutory income tax rate	25.00%
Zai Biopharmaceutical (Suzhou) Co., Ltd
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]
Statutory income tax rate	25.00%

Percentage of domestic federal statutory tax rate applicable to pretax income (loss).

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 6.I)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34349781&loc=d3e330036-122817

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of income (loss) from continuing operations, including income (loss) from equity method investments, before deduction of income tax expense (benefit), and income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 940
-SubTopic 20
-Section 25
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68072869&loc=d3e41242-110953

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03(10))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115205541&loc=SL114868664-224227

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 220
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-04(8))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114873790&loc=SL114874131-224263

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 250
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109234566&loc=d3e22694-107794

Reference 5: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 220
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-04(15))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114873765&loc=SL114874048-224260

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesExtraordinaryItemsNoncontrollingInterest
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 22
-Subparagraph (h)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e8736-108599

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08(h))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109238882&loc=d3e38679-109324

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of operating loss carryforward, before tax effects, available to reduce future taxable income under enacted tax laws.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32559-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Expiration date of each operating loss carryforward included in operating loss carryforward, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwardsExpirationDate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Income tax disclosure.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	zlab_IncomeTaxDisclosureLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	zlab_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_CN
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxPeriodAxis=us-gaap_EarliestTaxYearMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxPeriodAxis=us-gaap_LatestTaxYearMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=zlab_ZaiLabAUSTPtyLtdMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=zlab_ZaiLabUSLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=zlab_ZaiLabHongKongLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=zlab_ZaiLabShanghaiCompanyLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=zlab_ZaiLabSuzhouCompanyLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=zlab_ZaiBiopharmaceuticalSuzhouCompanyLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: