He was the Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and the former Communist Party Secretary of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
When he was 19, he began working at the forestry farm in Huma County, performing manual labour.
[1][2] In November 2006, Zhang was transferred to Hebei province, where he remained a deputy party chief.
He served in the post for some three years,[2] before leaving active politics in December 2016 upon reaching retirement age.
He was then transferred to serve on the National People's Congress Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee.