Born in Binzhou in China's Shandong province, Yang won the gold medal at the 2005 World Youth Championships and then took the silver at the 2005 National Games of China, finishing behind Liu Feiliang. He stepped up an age category and won at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships before taking the silver medal at the 2006 World Junior Championships. That same year he took silver at the 2006 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships behind Japan's Daichi Sawano and the bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games.