Since winning the Asian Junior Championships in 2004, Chen developed into one of the world's elite men's singles players.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, however, he was beaten by Lin in the semi-final and settled for a bronze medal after defeating South Korea's Lee Hyun-il in the playoff for third place.

He is also a member of China's Thomas Cup-winning world men's team champion, lifting the highly coveted cup in 2006 and 2008.

[2] In January, Chen entered the Malaysia Open and reached the quarter-finals before losing out to Lee Chong Wei in straight games 11–21, 13–21.

He again reached the quarter-finals before again tasting defeat at the hands of the top seed Lee Chong Wei, this time in rubber games, 14–21, 21–15, 16–21.

In September, Chen participated in the China Masters but was outplayed by Chou Tien-chen from Chinese Taipei 18–21, 8–16 (retired) in the second round due to a leg injury.

After a two-month rest, Chen came back to play in the 2010 Asian Games men's team and individual tournament which were held in Guangzhou, China.

Chen again helped Chinese men's team reach the final by defeating Hong Kong's Chan Yan Kit in the quarter-finals, Indonesia's Simon Santoso in the semi-final, and in the final, he beat South Korean Son Wan-ho with an easy 21–9, 21–15 win.

Later in the individual tournament, Chen again lost to the world number one Lee Chong Wei in rubber games 21–14, 15–21, 7–21.

After his retirement from competitive badminton, in 2014, he was roped into the national set-up to revamp the women's singles squad.