after the second sino–japanese war broke out, zheng sought to aid the war effort, moving from guangzhou to shanghai with the assistance of t. v. soong. the war's opening engagement forced zheng to hong kong. from hong kong, zheng relocated to wuhan, where he helped organize the in 1938, which he served as secretary-general. zheng was elected to the guangdong provincial government, serving between 1939 and 1943. during this time, zheng served in several positions within the kuomintang. he attended the sixth kuomintang national congress, where he was named secretary-general of the party's central committee.