Despite being only being thirty years old when he retired, Zhang Honggen would eventually move to management with Beijing Youth Team in 1970. After several seasons he replaced Nian Weisi in 1977 as manager of the Chinese football team, however his reign was uneventful and he left after only a year. He would return twice to this position in 1979 and 1982 to help the team for short periods, however these were again uneventful. In the 1985 Summer Universiade he guided China to a third-place position before he moved away from football and took several sport positions that included the National Sports Commission Training Council Advisory Committee, the National Sports Commission and the Sports Services Inc. as well as a position in the Chinese Football Association coaches committee. In 1994, he returned to management with Dalian Wanda and won the league title with them in his first attempt, however after that victory he decided to become the teams advisor. Once more returning to management in 1999 with second tier club Chengdu Blades he only served for a short period because he was diagnosed of gastric cancer and had to resign, in 2003 he would later die of gastric pain.