Zhang was born in
Luan County (now Luanzhou),
Hebei, on 16 October 1936. In 1955, he was admitted to
Harbin Institute of Technology, where he majored in turbine. Zhang is the third chief designer of China's nuclear submarine project (the first chief designer is
Peng Shilu, and the second one is
Huang Xuhua), and he made great contributions to develop and build the
Type 094 ballistic missile submarine. Zhang once said that he was deeply influenced by Peng Shilu. On 9 January 2023, Zhang died in
Wuhan,
Hubei, at the age of 86. ==Honours and awards==