He would show his potential when he would quickly establish himself as an integral member of the team and would personally win the Young Player of the Year award at the end of the 1999 league season.
His return to China however saw his performances fluctuate due to injury the club allowed him to leave at the end of the 2004 league season.
The 2007 league season, however saw Shanghai Shenhua merge with the club and Zhang Xiaorui would lose his place within the enlarged squad.
In 2008, he was hired to be a player-manager of Chinese Yi League club Tianjin Tuanbo New City, where he would gradually move away from playing before he would officially retire as a player in 2009.
In his first season, he would guide the team to a second-place finish in the Southern Group and a place in the play-offs where they were unable to win promotion.