He joined the Chinese Communist Party in January 1986, and began work in September 1987 after obtaining a computer science master's degree at the Harbin Institute of Technology.

In May 2009, he was promoted to president of the university, obtaining vice-minister level rank and was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

[4] In 2012, he was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government for his outstanding contributions to education, science and technology development across China and France.

In September 2017, Huai was transferred to become party secretary of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST).

[7] Huai is a deputy to the 12th National People's Congress and a member of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.