Chen worked in the International Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China after university in 1985.

Chen returned to China in 2003 and that same year became deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

He was designated by President Xi Jinping in 2013 to replace Zhang Jun as Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands.

[2] In 2019, he was appointed permanent representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland [zh], succeeding Yu Jianhua.

[3] He was appointed as a member of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on 17 January 2023 from the Friendship with Foreign Countries Sector.