A graduate of Tsinghua University, Liu's career has long been associated with her fellow alumnus and Communist Youth League colleague Hu Jintao.

Liu entered the prestigious Tsinghua University in 1964, weathered the Cultural Revolution, and graduated in 1970 with a degree in chemistry.

Shortly after graduation, Liu began work at a chemical production plant in Tangshan, an industrial city in northeastern China, in what was likely an assignment by the state.

The mandate of the United Front is essentially to keep non-Communist political and civic organizations in line with the overarching ideologies of the Communist Party.

Widely speculated to become Vice-Premier in an upcoming leadership reshuffle, by 2007, Liu was the sole woman with a seat on the Politburo and the highest ranked female politician in China.

A few months later, at the first plenary session of the 12th National People's Congress in 2013, she was also appointed Vice Premier in Li Keqiang Government, second in rank, overseeing the broad portfolios of health, education, and sports.