He was deposed at the top of the Chinese circuit by Wen Jili in 1997, taking second to him at the 8th National Games of China and losing his three-year streak at the national championships. The 1998 season marked a revival in fortunes, starting with a silver medal performance behind Mubarak at the 1998 Asian Athletics Championships. A win at the national championships came in September and that December, at the age of 30, he managed to have his best throw in four years in the 1998 Asian Games final. This mark of relegated Shakti Singh and Rubtsov to the minor medals as he became the first Chinese man to successfully defend the Asian Games title. He ranked third in Asia that year, behind Singh and another Indian athlete Bahadur Singh Sagoo, who both threw well in Calcutta. Despite this form, he faltered in 1999, trailing to Wen at the national championships and falling outside the world's top 100 as he failed to clear nineteen metres during the season.