Cao reached the first quarter-final of his career at the 2013 Wuxi Classic, the opening ranking event of the 2013–14 season. He qualified by defeating Paul Davison 5–1 and then saw off Michael White 5–3, world number eight Barry Hawkins 5–4 and Ben Woollaston 5–3.&lt;ref name="2013/14"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; He faced world number one, Neil Robertson and, although he led 4–3 and made five breaks above 50 in five separate frames during the match, he was edged out 5–4. This was the closest match Robertson had and he ultimately went on to win the title.