[3][4] From 1998 to 2001 Liu served as Deputy Communist Party Chief of Yinnan Prefecture in Ningxia, which later became the prefecture-level city of Wuzhong.
In 1999 she was temporarily transferred to Beijing for a brief stint as the Deputy Party Chief of Fengtai District.
From 2001 to 2003 Liu served as Director and Party Secretary of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Ningxia.
She succeeded Wang Zhengwei, who had been appointed the head of China's State Ethnic Affairs Commission.
[2][3] Liu was only the fifth woman to serve as the head of a provincial-level government, after Gu Xiulian, Song Xiuyan, Uyunqimg and Li Bin.