He was a leader of the East River Column, an anti-Japanese guerrilla force in Guangdong during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

[1] He served as Political Commissar of the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrillas,[2] also known as the East River Column, commanded by Zeng Sheng.

[1] After the founding of the People's Republic of China in October 1949, Liu was appointed Party Chief of Gaozhou-Leizhou prefecture, and organized logistical support for the Battle of Hainan Island.

[3] After the Cultural Revolution, when Governor Xi Zhongxun was transferred to Beijing in November 1980, he appointed Liu, then 72 years old, as his successor.

As an outsider who had worked for four decades in the province, he proclaimed that there were no anti-outsider sentiments among native Cantonese cadres.

[1] Liu and his successors Liang and Ye Xuanping were all considered reform pioneers who propelled the economic development of Guangdong in the 1980s.