Zhang Xiping, male, Han nationality, is a native of Pinghu, Zhejiang Province. He graduated from the Military Engineering Institute at the PLA in 1968 and earned a master's degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1977. Zhang holds the title of senior engineer.
Upon graduating from college, Zhang accepted a position at the China Shipyard. He rose through the ranks, becoming the deputy director and in 1985, the director.
In the 1990s, he moved to the Jiujiang Shipbuilding Industry Corporation where he assumed the general manager position. Zhang later became the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Corporation of Shipbuilding Industry in 1994. Five years later, he was made the director of the operation department at the China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
In 2001, Zhang became the assistant to the general manager of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation.