He graduated from Beijing Institute of Foreign Trade (now the University of International Business and Economics, UIBE) in 1982 and joined the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

He furthered his studies at Golden Gate University's School of Taxation in 1987 and returned to UIBE, earning an MBA in 1997.

[1] In August 2015, Gong was named deputy party chief of Shandong province, replacing Wang Junmin, who had reached the mandatory retirement age.

[5] On April 29, 2023, Gong led a Shanghai delegation to visit Indonesia to comprehensively promote high-level practical cooperation between Shanghai and Indonesia in accordance with the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and President Joko Widodo to jointly build a community with a shared future between China and Indonesia.

During the visit, Gong Zheng met with Indonesian Maritime and Investment Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Jakarta acting Governor Heru Budi Hartono, and Yogyakarta Special Administrative Region Government Executive Secretary Wiyos Santoso attended the Shanghai-Jakarta Symposium for Overseas Investment Enterprises and witnessed the signing of the project.