Born in Changde, in Hunan Province, Ding was initially a member of the Chinese Communist Party, but later became a Kuomintang politician active in Shanghai.

However, when forced out of power due to numerous corruption scandals in a reorganization of the Kuomintang in 1938, he defected to the Japanese side along with Li Shiqun.

Under the direction of Japanese spymaster Kenji Doihara, the two worked to create an intelligence and secret police security service, which was founded in April 1939 and whose headquarters was located at 76 Jessfield Road in Shanghai.

Following the surrender of Japan and the collapse of the Reorganized National Government of China, Ding was arrested in September 1945 and charged with treason.

During his trial, he pleaded that he had been serving with the Nanjing regime as a spy under the orders of Dai Li, the commander of Kuomintang secret service.