Yang Chuantang, male, Han nationality, is a native of Yucheng, Shandong province. He joined the CPC in June 1976 and started working in June 1972, having an educational background of on-the-job graduate. Yang began his career at the No. 2 Fertilizer Plant of the Shengli Petrochemical Complex of Shandong province, where he served as vice Party secretary until 1978. He transferred to the Qilu Petrochemical Corporation, where he served as deputy secretary of the CYLC committee in 1984. Subsequently, Yang was transferred to Tibet, where he held the position of administrative vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government. He was elected vice-governor of Qinghai province in 2003. In 2004 he became secretary of the CPC Tibet autonomous regional committee.
Yang Chuantang was Vice-Chairman of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission from 2006 to 2011 and he was also an alternate member of the 16th CPC Central Committee and a member of the 17th CPC Central Committee.
He was a member of the 18th CPC Central Committee and served as Minister of the Ministry of Transport from 2013 to 2018.