[1] Yuan has spent his entire military career up to 2017 in the North Sea Fleet.

[1] In July 2014, Yuan was promoted to commander of the North Sea Fleet, succeeding Qiu Yanpeng, who had been appointed chief of staff of the PLAN.

[1] In July 2015, Yuan and Qiu were both promoted to the rank of vice-admiral (zhong jiang).

This was noted as a departure from the convention of having army officers serving as regional commanders.

[4] On 20 August 2021, he was appointed vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Social Development Affairs Committee.