He is also known by the alternative spellings of 'Wu Cheng-yih',[2] 'Wu Zheng Yi'[3] and 'Cheng Yih Wu'.

[3] Wu was born in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, and grew up in Yangzhou, Jiangsu.

From 1940 to 1942, he pursued his postgraduate study at Peking University, under supervision of Zhang Jingyue, then chair of the department of Biology at PKU.

In 1950, Wu became a research fellow and vice director of the Botanical Institute of CAS.

Wu was appointed as the director of Kunming Botanical Institute of CAS in 1958. International Cosmos Prize prizewinner 1999, On January 8, 2008, Wu received the prestigious State Preeminent Science and Technology Award for 2007, the highest scientific prize awarded in China.