He studied Japanese at Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute from 1972 to 1975.

[1] In his final year, Liu joined the Chinese Communist Party and was assigned to the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee upon graduation.

[2] Between the years of 1989 to 1992, he served as First Secretary at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.

[1] In 2003, he was appointed Vice Minister of the International Liaison Department.

[2] In 2010, he succeeded Liu Xiaoming as the Chinese Ambassador to North Korea.