He served as Vice Minister of Finance from 1978 to 1982, Governor of the People's Bank of China from 1982 to 1985, and Auditor General of the National Audit Office from 1985 to 1994.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he enlisted in the New Fourth Army in 1944 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in November of that year.
He was transferred to the Ministry of Finance in Beijing in 1953, and took correspondence courses in industrial economics at Renmin University of China from 1954 to 1956.
In August 1985, Lü told the China Daily that the NAO had audited the accounts of more than 24,000 businesses and units, and uncovered tax evasion, fraud, and waste worth more than US$1.6 billion.
He served as a Standing Committee member of the 9th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.