Qian Tang started his career in the mid-1970s as a secondary school teacher in Shanxi Province, China.

[2] Qian Tang started his career at UNESCO in 1993 as Senior Programme Specialist and later Chief for Technical and Vocational Education, where he contributed to the creation of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn, Germany and also led preparations on the Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education in Seoul, Republic of Korea, serving as its Secretary-General.

[6] [7] UNESCO is coordinating and monitoring its implementation at the global and regional levels, as entrusted by the Incheon Declaration adopted at the World Education Forum in 2015.

From September 2015 to July 2016, he was Officer-in-Charge of the Bureau of Strategic Planning, having led the presentation of UNESCO's Programme and Budget document (38C/5) at the 38th session of General Conference.

In March 2017, Qian Tang was officially nominated as China's candidate for the post of Director-General of UNESCO.