[1][2] Yan was born on 25 December 1942 in Wujin District, Changzhou, Jiangsu, during the Chinese Civil War.

In 1959, he entered the University of Science and Technology of China, and then became the director of the Institute of Political Research of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he published several essays and papers on political reform.

[citation needed] He became a political advisor of Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang during the 1980s, and was one of the leading intellectuals supporting the student movement in 1989.

[citation needed] He is a member of the Chinese Constitutional Reform Association and has suggested the formation of a Federal Republic of China.

[citation needed] Jiaqi is one of three subjects in the feature documentary The Exiles (2022) which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.