[1][5] He graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of National Southwestern Associated University in 1942,[5] and went to the United States in 1948 to study at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute,[1] earning his master's degree in 1949.

Other than Wang Xiji and his former classmate Yang Nansheng [zh], who was the deputy director of the institute, there were only two visiting professors, Bian Yingui (卞荫贵) and Li Minhua.

[6][2] Wang later developed 12 types of sounding rockets, including many recoverable and reusable designs.

[7] Wang's recoverable satellites achieved a higher success rate than the Corona (Discoverer) program of the United States and the Zenit series of the Soviet Union.

When China restarted the Shenzhou program in 1992, Wang served as a senior supervisor of the project, which succeeded in putting the first Chinese astronaut into orbit in 2003.

[2] In 2002, Wang chaired a national policy committee that created a report outlining the future directions for the space and missile programs of China.