[1] He belonged to a very small group of imperial Mandarins that survived and prospered under the Communist government of Mao Zedong.

From 1904 to 1906, Chen was in Japan, studying political science and constitutional law at Hosei University.

Following the Xinhai Revolution and the subsequent establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, Chen was selected as a representative to the National Assembly.

[1] From the late 1910s to the late 1930s Chen held a number of important positions, including Chairman of the Commercial Press in Shanghai and Chairman of The National Commercial Bank.

After the end of the war, his many disagreements with Chiang Kai-Shek led him to escape to Hong Kong through an underground Chinese Communist Party organization in 1948.