Zhang first came to prominence at national level with a win at the 1993 Chinese Athletics Championships. He gained selection for China for the 1994 Asian Games and won the gold medal with a mark of , beating his compatriot Ma Wei into second place. This made him the third successive Chinese to win the men's discus, succeeding Zhang Jinglong and Li Weinan to extend China's win streak to five editions. He declined at national level in the subsequent season's, with Ma Wei and Li Shaojie becoming the country's leading discus men.