[2] Within the top tier, Sun found it hard to gain significant playing time until the 2011 season when he started to establish himself as a regular for the first team which soon culminated in his first goal in over two years when he scored on 14 September 2011 in a 2–0 win against Hangzhou Greentown.
[4] However, due to complications with the club's sponsor Quanjian, the transfer was suddenly put on hold and Sun returned to Jiangsu.
He immediately established himself as a vital member of the team as they won the 2016 China League One division and promotion to the top tier.
He scored a dramatic game-tying goal on 21 July 2013 in a 3–3 draw against Japan at the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup.
[10] In the team's second group match, he scored the winning goal as China won 2–1 against Uzbekistan to qualify for the knockout stage.