Cao Yu is an ASC member and CNSC council member, as well as a distinguished professor at the Shanghai Film School of Shanghai University. He is widely recognized as China's first "IMAX resident artist" and the first Asian cinematographer to use IMAX cameras throughout an entire film. Known for his poetic realism style, he has collaborated with directors such as Lu Chuan, Wong Kar-wai, Chen Kaige, Guan Hu, and Huang Jianxin, serving as the cinematographer on films including Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, City of Life and Death, Legend of the Demon Cat, The Eight Hundred, 1921, and The Cord of Life. He is the first cinematographer in Asia to use IMAX cameras throughout the entire shooting process. He has received 14 awards and 14 nominations at major film festivals both domestically and internationally, including the Golden Rooster Awards, Golden Horse Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, Huabiao Awards, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Asia Pacific Film Awards, and Best Cinematography Awards at the Asian Film Awards and the second place for Best Cinematography at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. The films he has worked on have grossed over RMB 12.4 billion in box office. In 2021, he graced the cover of the September issue of the American Cinematographer magazine for his work on The Eight Hundred.