Yang is currently the director and chairman of Huada Group. Fellow of China Academy of Sciences, Fellow of China Academy of Medical Sciences, Fellow of TWAS Academy of Developing World, Fellow of American National Academy of Sciences, German National Academy of Sciences, Indian National Academy of Sciences, Royal Danish Academy of Sciences, and foreign member of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). Professor of China Academy of Sciences and China Academy of Medical Sciences.
Yang received his doctorate from the University of Copenhagen. Later, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in France and the United States. As a co-founder, he founded Huada Gene and Beijing Genome Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences.