Fang was born in November 1962 in Guye District of Tangshan, Hebei, to a Catholic family.
In 1984 he entered the Hebei Provincial Catholic Theological College, where he graduated in 1988.
On August 6, 1989, Fang was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Yongping, Paul Liu Jinghe.
[2] On July 9, 2004, Fang was elected vice-president of Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.
On December 9, 2010, he was elected vice-president of the Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church in China.