[1] He reportedly fled the country in 2002 amidst investigations into corruption as the leader of the State Power Corporation of China.
[1][5] He served as Governor of Jilin from March 1992 to 1995 and was a member of the 14th and 15th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party.
[1][2] Gao was the CCP Committee Secretary of Yunnan Province from June 1995 to August 1997 and was appointed general manager of the State Power Corporation in 1998.
[2] In October of that year, Gao had been investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for corruption and the embezzlement of funds; he was later branded a "traitor" by the Government of China.
[7] Some analysts believed that this was an indirect move against Li Peng, then second-in-command of the CCP and who had close links to the corporation, ahead of his expected resignation at the 16th National Congress.