[5] In 2019 she competed at the 2019 IWF World Cup held in Fuzhou, China, in the 49 kg category.

In 2021 at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won China's second gold medal in women's 49 kg weightlifting, setting new Olympic records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and overall total, with 210 kilograms, which is three short of her world record from the 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships.

[7] She won the bronze medal in the women's 49 kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in Bogotá, Colombia.

In August 2024, she again competed in the women's 49 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France.

On 26 July 2021, Indian news outlet ANI falsely reported that Hou, the new Women's 49 kg weightlifting olympic champion, would be tested by the International Testing Agency (ITA) for doping, according to ANI's unnamed source.