Lai was a representative of the 7th, 8th, and 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

He was a member of the 3rd National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Standing Committee of the 4th and 5th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.. Lai was born in Yongding County (now Yongding District), Fujian, on 29 October 1910, during the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911).

[1] He took part in the Red Army in October 1929 and mainly worked in the Western Fujian Revolutionary Base Area.

[1] During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he served in the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army in north China's Shanxi province.

[2] After the establishment of the Communist State, in 1956, he was promoted to minister of the newly founded Ministry of Building Materials Industry.