Dezhi Duan

In June 2021, Dezhi Duan made his AFC Champions League debut, becoming the first player of Naxi ethnicity to appear in the competition. He had already made a mark with the China U19 side the year before, finishing as the team's top scorer with three goals in China League Two, including the first-ever goal scored by the U19 national team in that competition. A year earlier still, he had been a candidate for the China Golden Boy award.

Duan came through the Beijing Guoan academy and lifted the Chinese FA U21 League title with the club's U21 side in 2022, a season in which he was also named to the league's Best XI. He made his senior league debut for Beijing Guoan that December, scoring on his first appearance in the Chinese Super League.

He spent 2024 on loan at Suzhou Dongwu in China League One, making 19 appearances, before leaving Beijing Guoan on a free transfer to join Yunnan Yukun in January 2025. He made ten league appearances for Yunnan Yukun in the Chinese Super League before being loaned out again, to Yanbian Longding in China League One in January 2026.

Duan has represented China at youth level from U18 through to U23, including Olympic selection, but has not yet been capped by the senior national team. Primarily a centre-back, he has also been used in defensive midfield.