Duan Dezhi first played for the Beijing Guoan youth team who loaned him out to the China U19 team, who were allowed to take part in the third tier of the Chinese pyramid, in order to gain more playing time.
After returning he would participate in senior games when he was part of the AFC Champions League squad, which was a mix of reserves and youth players to participate within centralized venues while the clubs senior players were still dealing with self-isolating measures due to COVID-19.
[1] He would make his continental debut in a AFC Champions League game on 26 June 2021 against United City F.C.
[4] On 20 January 2025, Duan joined Chinese Super League club Yunnan Yukun.
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