Zhang was born in Hunyuan County, Shanxi, in July 1952. He began working in April 1970 and initially served as a surveying worker at the Taiyuan Municipal Engineering Company. From 1973 to 1984, he worked in the Taiyuan Urban Survey Team, where he rose from worker to team leader. Between 1984 and 1987, he studied aerial photogrammetry at the North China Staff University of Surveying and Mapping. After graduation, he served as a technical cadre in the Taiyuan Urban Survey Team and later as an assistant engineer in the Taiyuan Surveying and Mapping Office.[2]
In the 1990s, Zhang held several technical and managerial positions at the Taiyuan Institute of Surveying and Mapping, including head of aerial survey operations, team leader of the geographic aerial survey unit, director of the Geographic Information Center, and eventually deputy president of the institute. During this period, he also undertook postgraduate coursework in enterprise management at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics.[3]
Zhang became involved in political affairs through the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK). He served as deputy chairman and later chairman of the Taiyuan Municipal Committee of the RCCK. In 2007, he was appointed vice chairman of the Taiyuan Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), while continuing his leadership roles within the RCCK. In 2012, Zhang was promoted to chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the RCCK and became a member of the Standing Committee of the RCCK Central Committee.[4] From 2013 to 2018, he served as a vice chairman of the 11th Shanxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC. He has also been a member of the 12th Central Committee of the RCCK.[5][6]