From 1970 to 1978, Huang worked at a machinery factory of the Guangdong Coal Mine, joined the Communist Party in 1971 and served as deputy secretary of the workshop Party Branch.
He was later promoted to secretary of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) Shaoguan Municipal Committee.
He was Mayor of Meizhou (1988–1992) and subsequently the CCP party chief in Guangzhou.
The stepping down of Huang as governor in 2011 marked the end of the dominance of the provincial government by the "Hakka clique" (客家帮).
In December 2011, Huang was made a deputy chair of the National People's Congress Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee.