Wang Yongqiang received his formal artistic training in the oil painting department of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Art from 1960 to 1965 after which he became the vice-director and professor in the oil painting department of the Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Research Institute. Since 1988, he has been a visiting artist in the fine art department of the Ontario College of Art. His work has been exhibited in China, Japan, the United States and Toronto.