He has published 6 monographs and over 150 articles in leading Russian journals, made 65 reports at international scientific conferences, undertaken scientific internships as a guest professor in the Fudan University (PRC, Shanghai) and the Wuhan University (PRC, Wuhan). He has presented his public lectures and scientific reports for 19 times in China: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou and other universities and scientific societies of China.
Professor I. A. Zakharenko is a leading Russian specialist in field of comprehensive study of a coherent and dynamic geographic and cartographic picture of the Great Tea Road. Most of his works are dedicated to the 400-year long history of interaction of Russia and China. His monograph "Geocartographic Heritage of the Great Tea Road" is in preparation. All of this allows designing geographic, cartographic and information technologies of interaction of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China.
Professor I. A. Zakharenko teaches in the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography, the Belarus State University, the Fudan University (PRC, Shanghai). He pays great attention to academic work of his students and graduate students. He holds the International Conference "Historic and Cultural Heritage of Russia and China", academic and research conferences "Historic Geography of Russia and China" and "Historic Geography and Cartography of the Great Tea Road" for students and young scientists, as well as scientific seminars on History of Cartography, History of Geographic Study and Cartographic Mapping of the Great Tea Road. Under his academic supervision students and graduate students actively report at research and practice conferences.
Currently Professor I. A. Zakharenko works on the international project "Russian-Chinese Cultural Heritage of the Great Tea Road". The objective of the project is to form and implement new promising directions of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China in field of economic, political, scientific, educational and cultural interaction. The project provides an opportunity to present Russia and China in the global space and time of the international project "The Belt and Road".