[citation needed] Yan was assigned to the 2010–11 ISU Junior Grand Prix events in Austria and Czech Republic.

After winning his two JGP events, he qualified to the Junior Grand Prix Final, which was held in Beijing, China.

In the 2011–2012 season, Yan began attempting a triple Axel and a quad toe loop in competition.

After winning gold at his JGP events in Austria and Italy, Yan qualified for the 2011–12 Junior Grand Prix Final.

Yan started his season at the 2012 JGP Slovenia, where he finished fifth after a shattering fall on the quadruple toe loop in the free program.

Yan finished fourth at the 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard, competing with a fever that he developed the day before his short program.

At the 2015 Four Continents Championships, Yan took the bronze medal with a combined score of 259.47, a personal best.

Competing in the 2015 Grand Prix season, Yan placed fourth at Skate America and took bronze at Cup of China.

[6] He went on to win his third bronze medal at the 2016 Four Continents Championships, setting personal bests in the free program (181.98) and combined score (271.55).

During the 2016 Grand Prix season, Yan placed tenth at Skate Canada and fifth at Cup of China.

For his Grand Prix assignments, Yan competed at Skate America and the Cup of China, placing fifth at both competitions.

Yan was assigned to the 2019 Cup of China, where, despite performing only triple jumps, he placed first in the short program, narrowly ahead of Jin Boyang.

[8] With the 2020–21 figure skating season having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, senior skaters were invited to a maximum of one Grand Prix event, based largely on geographic location.

[14] For the 2021-22 Grand Prix Season, Yan was assigned to the 2021 Cup of China, which was later cancelled and replaced by the 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia.

Officials from the State General Administration of Sports held a press conference where they attributed the discrepancies to erroneous information provided by the Chinese website.