Fan Yanqing was born in June 1955 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in June 1980 and entered the workforce in July 1971. He began his career as a worker at the Jiangnan Shipping Company before pursuing higher education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where he studied automation in ship electrification. He later obtained an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the China Europe International Business School.[2]
In the early stage of his career, Fan worked in the Wuxi Planning Commission, eventually rising to head of the Comprehensive Planning Section. He subsequently served as deputy county head of Yixing and later as deputy director of the Wuxi Planning Commission. He advanced to become deputy secretary-general and then secretary-general of the Wuxi municipal government. During this period, he also concurrently served as party secretary and director of the Wuxi New District Administrative Committee, as well as general manager of the district's economic development group.[3]
Fan was appointed vice mayor of Wuxi in 1994 and later became deputy party secretary of the city. From 2001 onward, he held posts in Changzhou, first as deputy party secretary and acting mayor, then as mayor, and subsequently as party secretary of Changzhou.[4] While in office, he also served concurrently as president of the Changzhou Party School and as the first secretary of the Changzhou Military District Party Committee.[5]
From 2012 to 2018, Fan served as vice chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.[6] He was a delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, a deputy to the 10th National People's Congress, a member of the 10th and 11th Jiangsu Provincial Party Committees, and a deputy to the 10th Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress.[7]