Yang Xu started his football career when he made his debut for Liaoning Whowin on 16 April 2005 in a 1–0 loss against Shanghai Shenhua.

[4] His goals would aid Liaoning to win the division title and immediate promotion back to the top flight.

On 26 February 2017, Yang transferred to fellow top-tier side Tianjin Quanjian and was immediately loaned to his former club Liaoning Whowin for one season.

On 8 June 2022, Yang finally scored his first league goal for the club in a 2-0 win over derby rivals Shanghai Port.

Yang was called up to the Chinese national team and made his international debut on 30 September 2009 in a 4–1 win against Botswana.