[2] In 1958, he entered Beijing Institute of Technology, majoring in the Department of Chemical Engineering.
[3] Hong joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in June 1965, and got involved in politics in December 1977, when he was appointed director of the Comprehensive Planning Division of the Second Bureau of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
In March 1988, he was chosen as deputy director of the Economic Restructuring Office of the State Council, but having held the position for only five months.
[3] In August 1999, he was transferred to northeast China's Jilin province and appointed deputy party secretary.
[3][4] In February 2005, he took office as vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Constitution and Law Committee, a post he kept until March 2013.