 When the club brought in Shen Xiangfu as their next manager, Cao found himself dropped from the starting line-up once more; however, this time when used as a substitute he wasn't able to find his goal scoring touch and was allowed to leave for second-tier club Shenzhen Phoenix at the beginning of the 2011 league season.At the club, he was reunited with Li Shubin and was given the number 14 shirt once again.He was released by Changchun at the end of 2014 season.