Du would captain the Chinese under-20 national team and lead them into the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina where they were knocked out in the last sixteen by Argentina. His performance within the tournament would see him win the Asian Young Footballer of the Year award and he would then rapidly rise through the Chinese youth teams to graduate into the senior Chinese national football team when he made his debut against Trinidad and Tobago in a friendly on 5 August 2001 in a game that China won 3–0. This led to several further games and despite his lack of experience he was called up into the squad that played at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Due to injury, he was dropped from the national team in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup that reached the final where Arie Haan preferred to play Zheng Zhi in defence. Du was able to regain his position within the national team after the tournament and was recalled for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup squad. When Gao Hongbo became the new manager of the national team, he chose Du as his captain and he led China to win the 2010 East Asian Football Championship.