The title bis-nicotinate zinc chloride, [Zn(C6H4NO2)Cl(C6H5NO2)]n, has an infinite head-to-tail one-dimensional chain structure. The compound was synthesized under mild hydrothermal conditions. The ZnII atom exhibits a distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry. The structure is statistically disordered, with 0.5 site occupancy for the Zn atom and the H atom located on the pyridine N atom. As a result, Zn positions in the crystal structure alternate between two sites related by a crystallographic twofold axis and rows of molecules are formed, supported by strong N-H...O hydrogen bonds