Yi, along with former NBA player Sun Yue, was a member of the Chinese national team that played at the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship and the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. Yi was named the most valuable player of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, averaging 16.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. Yi also played for the Chinese national team during the 2012 Summer Olympics, ranking first in rebounds per game with 10.2 per game and ranking second in blocks with 2.2 per game. He also played at the 2016 Summer Olympics. During 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Yi was still the leader in the Chinese national team , averaging 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists. In the match with Nigeria, he played the best performance of the national team in recent years. Yi got 27 points and Player efficiency is 26.