Fang was born in Yuncheng, Shandong, in August 1956. He began working in July 1975, first at the Jidong County Finance Bureau and then at Pingyang Paper Factory. In 1978, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. From 1982, Fang worked in various departments of the Ministry of Commerce and its predecessors, including the Labor and Wage Division, Social Commerce Management Division, and Industry Management Division of the Ministry of Domestic Trade. He was promoted to deputy director of the Industry Management Division in 1995 and became Director-General of the Consumer Goods Circulation Department of the State Domestic Trade Bureau in 1998.[3]
From 2000, he served as deputy director of the Trade Market Bureau under the State Economic and Trade Commission and Deputy Director-General of the Market Operation and Regulation Department of the Ministry of Commerce. In 2003, he was appointed Director-General of the Market Operation and Regulation Department and concurrently deputy director of the National Silk Coordination Office. In March 2008, Fang became Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Commerce.[4] From June 2013 to June 2017, he served as Vice Minister of Commerce.[5] Between March 2018 and March 2023, he was Vice Chair of the Economic Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In February 2025, Fang was appointed President of the Third Council of the China Council for the Promotion of International Investment.[3]