[citation needed] Ye completed his undergraduate education in radio science and graduated from Zhejiang University in 1967.
Taking the advice of Chinese aerospace engineer Yang Jiachi to avoid the United States because of American restrictions on sensitive technology, he studied at University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland and received a Doctor of Science in 1985.
[3][4] Ye is a professor both at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Harbin Institute of Technology.
He is a research fellow and Chief Engineer at the Chinese Academy of Space Technology.
The inner main-belt asteroid 456677 Yepeijian, discovered by the PMO NEO Survey Program at XuYi Station in 2007, was named in his honor.