After retiring as a player he moved into coaching where he had successful reigns at Tianjin and Beijing where he won several league titles before managing the China national team.

After leaving the China national team he would mainly move away from management except for a brief spell when he joined Shenzhen Ping'an on a caretaker bases.

While Zeng Xuelin was born in Siam (now Thailand), he moved back with his family to China and settled in Meixian in the Guangdong Province at the age of seven.

[2] The club were constant title contenders throughout his reign despite seeing the Cultural Revolution severely stunting the team's development.

This lasted until 1972 when Beijing football club offered him the youth coach position before he would soon take over the senior side.