An economics doctorate from Tsinghua University, Zhang had previously served as the Party Secretary of Liaoning, mayor of Chongqing, the chief executive of North Industries, a military contractor.

After graduating, he pursued a master's degree from the Nanjing University of Science and Technology in international trade.

[4] Along with Ma Xingrui, Zhang was the only provincial-level deputy party chief with a full seat on the 18th Central Committee.

In April 2016, he paid an inspection trip to the Chongqing Chemical and Pharmaceutical Holding Company, he called on efforts to be made to steadily advance supply-side structural reforms.

Compared to his contemporaries, Zhang's background is unusual in that much of his career was spent as a corporate executive rather than in politics.

[11] In June 2023, Zhang paid an inspection trip to various manufacturing companies in Shanghai, where he calling on them to move up the value chain and speed up breakthroughs in key technologies.

[13] He visited Russia to attend the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September 2023, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[15] In January 2024, after landslides in Liangshui in Zhenxiong County, Yunnan, Zhang was sent by Xi as a delegation to the scene.