In September 2021, The Globe and Mail reported that Chen is also a major general in China's People's Liberation Army.

[2] She attended the Academy of Military Medical Sciences where she obtained her doctor's degree in 1998.

[6] In January 2018, she became a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

[9] In 2020, Chen led a joint team of the Institute of Biotechnology, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and CanSino Biologics to develop Convidecia.

[10][11] It conducted its Phase III trials in Argentina,[12] Chile,[13] Mexico,[14] Pakistan,[15] Russia,[16] and Saudi Arabia[17] with 40,000 participants.