Ye was born in British Hong Kong in October 1938, the son of Ye Jianying, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general, Marshal of the People's Liberation Army, and Zeng Xianzhi, a descendant of Zeng Guoquan and a Standing Committee member of the 4th and 5th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Ye Xuanning was raised in his maternal grandmother's home, in Heye Town of Shuangfeng County, in Hunan province.

[1] In 1958, he entered Harbin Institute of Military Engineering (now Harbin Engineering University), where he studied alongside Zhang Yanzhong (张延忠; 張延忠; son of Zhang Dingcheng, Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate) and Wang Xing (王兴; 王興; son of Wang Ruofei, Member of the ruling CCP's Central Committee),[2] after which he transferred to Beijing Institute of Technology due to poor health.

[citation needed] After graduating from Beijing Institute of Technology in 1960, he was assigned to a radio parts factory in Zhuzhou, Hunan, then he was transferred to Shangrao, Jiangxi.

[citation needed] In 1978, Ye served as secretary of Kang Shien, director of the Economic Commission of the State Council.