Zhang Pu was born in September 1956 in Beijing, and his ancestral home is in Linfen, Shanxi. He began working in July 1974 as a sent-down youth in Xiaojingyu Commune, Beijiao District of Taiyuan.[2] He joined the Chinese Communist Party in June 1976. Zhang studied lifting and conveying machinery at Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Institute (now Taiyuan University of Technology) from March 1978 to January 1982, obtaining a bachelor's degree in engineering. After graduation, he worked as a technician at Shanxi Machinery Factory and later served as deputy secretary and secretary of its Communist Youth League committee.[3]
He subsequently held leadership roles in the Communist Youth League of China Taiyuan Municipal Committee, serving as deputy secretary. In 1990, Zhang was appointed deputy secretary of the Yangqu County Committee, and later served as acting county magistrate and county magistrate. He continued his career as deputy secretary and acting county magistrate of Qingxu County before becoming its CCP committee secretary.[4]
In September 2000, Zhang was appointed vice mayor of Taiyuan, and in March 2003 he became a member of the Standing Committee of the Taiyuan Municipal Committee while continuing to serve as vice mayor.[5] In May 2007, he was transferred to Jinzhong, where he served as deputy secretary of the municipal committee and acting mayor, and was confirmed as mayor in June 2007.[6] He later served as party secretary of Jinzhong from March 2011 to January 2016.[7]
In January 2016, Zhang was appointed Vice Chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, while concurrently serving as party secretary of Jinzhong until July 2016.[8] He held the vice chairmanship until January 2018.[9] Zhang was a delegate to the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and served as a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress. He was also a member of the 10th Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[10]