[3] In 2015, Zhang founded a personal agency with SM for managing his solo activities in China and wrote an autobiography titled Standing Firm at 24.

Since his debut as a solo artist, Zhang has produced and released over 100 songs including 4 studio albums and 5 EPs, and has won numerous music awards.

[5][6] and on the CelebrityZ Top 100 Most Valuable Celebrities list (placing 23rd in 2016) published by market research company Kantar and Chinese business magazine CBN Weekly.

He has also ventured into acting and starred in films and television shows such as Ex-Files 2 (2015), The Mystic Nine (2016), Kung Fu Yoga (2017), The Island (2018), The Golden Eyes (2019), Empress of the Ming (2019), Crime Crackdown (2021), and No More Bets (2023).

In 2000, at age nine, Zhang participated in a Chinese television show as a fan club member of the Taiwanese singer and actor Jimmy Lin.

[13] The group debuted on April 8, 2012, with the single "Mama", and Exo-M's first performance in China was publicly televised at the 12th Yinyue Fengyun Bang Awards.

[25] In November 2015, Zhang made his film debut with a supporting role in the Chinese romantic comedy movie Ex-Files 2: The Backup Strikes Back.

[30] Zhang starred in the Chinese comedy film Oh My God[31] and collaborated with his co-stars Coco Jiang Wen and Li Xiaolu on an original soundtrack for the movie titled "Happy Youth", which debuted at number eight on the Billboard V Chart.

[40] On October 28, Zhang released his debut extended play (EP) Lose Control, which contained six Mandarin tracks and the music video for the title song.

On February 17, 2017, Zhang performed with Exo during their Hong Kong concerts, before reducing his group activities due to solo commitments in China[46][unreliable source?]

[51] In October, Zhang was announced to be starring as the male lead alongside label-mate Krystal Jung in the South Korean-Chinese romance film Unexpected Love.

[52] On December 22, Zhang released his second EP, Winter Special Gift along with the music video for the lead single, "Goodbye Christmas".

[60] In August, Zhang starred in Huang Bo's commercially and critically successful directorial debut film The Island, where he received acclaim for his performance.

[71] Zhang attended the 61st Annual Grammy Awards as its promotional ambassador on February 10, the only Chinese celebrity invited to the red carpet event and live ceremony.

[72] On February 26, a Michael Jackson tribute song titled "Let's Shut Up & Dance" was released by Zhang in collaboration with American singer Jason Derulo and South Korean band and SM Entertainment labelmate NCT 127.

[75][76] On March 15, Zhang released a digital single titled "Lovebird" as a collaborative song with American EDM and hip-hop group Far East Movement.

On May 6, Zhang made his first appearance at the annual fashion exhibition Met Gala in New York City as an ambassador for Valentino, wearing a custom-made suit called "Time Traveller" designed by the house's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.

[85] Through its official accounts on Twitter, Weibo, and Instagram, the company revealed a trainee selection program modeled after the one Zhang participated in under SM Entertainment.

[93] Starting Mid-October, Zhang held his second concert tour Grandline II · Infinite lands in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangkok, Thailand and San Francisco, USA respectively.

On November 26, Zhang headlined the 1st MetaMoon Music Festival which was set to showcase AAPI and Asian artists and culture, at Barclays Center in New York.

[citation needed] On April 21, Zhang attended The 13th Beijing International Film Festival, along with Jackie Chan and other cast from the movie they starred in, The Legend.

He also helped compose the songs "Not to be Continued" by Chinese singer Karen Mok, which was released in May 2018 for her 25th anniversary album,[105] and MC Jin's single "Debut" in the same year.

[citation needed] Many of Zhang's released songs contain elements of traditional Chinese music, such as the instruments hulusi, guzheng and gong.

Zhang mentioned in an interviews that he considers his main genre to be M-pop, which stands for "Mix Mandarin popular music" and blends different languages.

One example is his collaborative single with American EDM and hip-hop group Far East Movement titled "Lovebird", which contains both the English and Mandarin languages.

In his autobiography, Standing Firm at 24, Zhang revealed that he struggled with anxiety when performing on stage but was able to face his fears and overcome them through his dedication to training and working hard alongside the rest of the members of Exo.

Past endorsements include: Chaumet, Valentino, Dell computer, Calvin Klein, Daniel Wellington, Ballantine's, Burger King, Oral-B, Pizza Hut, Converse, MAC Cosmetics, Ray-Ban, Milka Chocolate, H&M, Perrier, etc.

[119][120] In February 2015, Zhang participated in the "Return Home with Love for A Thousand Miles", a large-scale public welfare activities and volunteer project.

On February 1, 2016, Zhang donated an undisclosed amount to a joint Weibo public welfare funding project (#一起9加1#) which aids impoverished families for the upcoming Lunar New Year.

[131] On September 9, Zhang attended the 2016 BAZAAR Stars' Charity Night which resulted in him donating 10 ambulances with worth amounting to 700 thousand yuan.