on january 27, 2017, zhang made his first appearance at the cctv spring gala festival and presented alongside chinese actor jing boran. in april of that same year, it was confirmed in the cast of the historical film "the founding of the army", released on july 28, 2017 to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the people's liberation army. in may he released the song "祈愿 (pray)" for the soundtrack of "operation love", reaching the top position in qq music. also in may, he participated in the release ceremony of huawei nova 2 at the hunan international exhibition and conference center, where he expressed his gratitude for his continued appointment as huawei nova's ambassador. in july 2017, the variety show "go fighting!" premiered its third season, with zhang in the main cast. he was later revealed as the voice actor of the chinese dubbing for the main antagonist of the cartoon film "cars 3".