He studied at Wuyou High School and in 1978, he was accepted to Yancheng Teachers University, majoring in the Department of Foreign Languages.

In December 2017, he was made ambassador of the permanent mission of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland, but only held the position for a year and a half.

In April 2019, he was recalled to be vice minister of Commerce and deputy representative for international trade negotiations.

[1] In January 2021, he rose to become representative for international trade negotiations, although he remained a vice minister of Commerce.

[4] However, Luo Changping and other dissidents claim that Yu committed suicide after a corruption probe by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, citing abrupt censorship of an article mentioning Yu on Jilin provincial state media.