Jian Yi co-founded the ground-breaking China Villager Documentary Project with filmmaker Wu Wenguang in 2004, and founded the IFChina Original Studio in 2008.

He was frequently interviewed by international media for his views on China's food systems and appeared on Eating Animals, a documentary produced by Natalie Portman.

Jian Yi also led his colleagues to set up the China Action Hub for UNFSS AT2, and organized 10+ independent dialogues on food systems in the first half of 2021, with a combined views of 1 million for their livestreams across platforms.

Jian Yi founded the China Vegan Society, which was officially launched in Dali, Yunnan, in May 2021, receiving supporting messages from celebrated figures such as Peter Singer, Dr. Jane Goodall, and Joaquin Phoenix.

Jian Yi received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame in 2015.

[citation needed] As a result, he was one of the three Chinese national finalists selected by the British Council for the 2007 International Young Film Entrepreneur of the Year award.

IFChina was China's first civic engagement center that focuses solely on documenting social memories through the use of filmmaking, photography, oral history and theater.