Zhang Yanzhong, male, Han nationality, is a native of Sanyuan, Shannxi, Province. He joined the CPC in 1960 and graduated from the Physics Department of Northwest University in 1962. Zhang studied information engineering at Trinity College of Cambridge University in Britain in 1981 and earned a doctorate's degree.
Zhang has a lengthy affiliation with aeronautics organizations. After returning to China upon receiving his doctorate degree in Britain, Zhang served as the director of the science and technology bureau at the Ministry of Aeronautics Industry and later the general engineer of the ministry. His other management positions include working as the deputy general manager and a Party committee member at the China Aeronautics Industry Corporation. During this time, Zhang was also president of the China Aeronautics Research Institute.
The author of 9 books and more than 100 papers, Zhang was honored with the Australian Electric Engineering Award, the 20th Century Science Achievement Award of the International Center of Cambridge University. In 1985, he was awarded with the National Sci-Tech Expert Making Prominent Contribution.