[3] His father-in-law is Sun Keji, a major general and former vice political commissar of the Nanjing Military Region.

In the 1980s, he participated in the Battle of Laoshan during the Sino-Vietnamese border conflicts, when he was the political commissar of the 61st Division of the 21st Group Army.

[2] In 2005, Zhang was promoted to political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region, replacing General Liu Shutian, who had reached retirement age.

During the Great Sichuan earthquake of 2008, Zhang Haiyang, together with Chengdu MR commander Li Shiming, coordinated the military relief efforts.

In late 2009, he replaced retiring General Peng Xiaofeng as the 10th political commissar of the Second Artillery Corps, China's strategic missile force.