Huang spent most of his early career in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, and is considered a close associate of Xi Jinping, the current general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1977, after serving for three years in the army, he went back to Tongxian Commune his home county as a "sent-down youth" and became a secretary.

[1] He first worked as a clerk at the Young Cadre Division of the Organization Department of the Longyan Prefecture Party Committee from 1982 to 1988.

He enrolled in the Central Party School in 1985, gaining a master’s degree in economic management in 1988 via part-time studies.

[1] Huang enrolled in the e Tsinghua University School of Public Administration in 2005, gaining a doctoral degree in management in 2008 via part-time studies.

External observers have called Huang's installation in the position as a means to check the influence of Liu Yunshan, a member of the party's top ruling body the Politburo Standing Committee who is widely believed to be a conservative.

[1] The later years of Huang's career roughly follows in the footsteps of Xi Jinping, who was named the CCP General Secretary in 2012.

[8] He attended the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang in November 2018, saying each country had the right to take part equally in cyberspace management.

[9] In March 2019, Huang spoke at the launch of the Xuexi Qiangguo app, calling it an all-encompassing database of Xi Jinping's thoughts on domestic governance, military building and diplomacy.

[19] Huang is married to Qiu Ping, who served as the director of the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau of Zhejiang before her retirement.