[1] From 1964 to 1969, he studied at the Physics Department of Nanjing University, majoring in acoustics, and joined the workforce in August 1969.

From 1979 to 1980, he served as a theoretical instructor in the Publicity Department of the Zhong County Committee of the CCP.

In October 2000, the fifth plenary session of the fifteenth CCP Central Committee held in Beijing, the theme of which was to study the proposals for the Tenth Five-Year Plan, and on October 10, during a group discussion, Guo Jinlong argued for the inclusion of the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in China's Tenth Five-Year Plan.

He spent the first six months of his tenure conducting research in various places, and he lived in a guest house with his family for about half-year.

During Guo Jinlong's presidency of Beijing, the city successfully won the right to host the XXIV Winter Olympic Games on July 31, 2015.

He was then duly appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization.

Due to age restrictions Guo retired at the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2017.