Her father is An Shaokang (安少康), who served as a first secretary of the Education Office of the Chinese Embassy in France and director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Paris VII.

[12] Several weeks after returning to China, Liu was accepted into the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy at age 15[8] and graduated in 2006.

Her first television appearance in 2003 was in the period romance drama The Story of a Noble Family (金粉世家), based on Zhang Henshui's eponymous novel.

[14][15] The same year, she was chosen by Zhang Jizhong to play Wang Yuyan in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, an adaptation of Louis Cha's wuxia novel of the same title.

[17] In 2005, Liu starred in Chinese Paladin, a fantasy action drama adapted from the role-playing game The Legend of Sword and Fairy.

The same year, she was cast as Wu Qing (Emotionless) in Gordon Chan's wuxia film The Four, adapted from Woon Swee Oan's novel series The Four Great Constables.

[25][26] Liu won the Best Actress award at the fifth Macau International Movie Festival for her role as Lingju and Diaochan in the historical film The Assassins (2012).

[27] In 2014, Liu collaborated with Korean actor-singer Rain for the romance film For Love or Money, based on Hong Kong novelist Amy Cheung's 2006 novel of the same name.

[34] In 2017, Liu starred in romantic fantasy film Once Upon a Time by award-winning director Anthony LaMolinara and Zhao Xiaoding.

[37] The same year, Liu reunited with White Vengeance co-star Feng Shaofeng in the fantasy comedy film Hanson and the Beast.

[38] In November 2017, Liu was cast as Mulan in the live-action adaptation of the 1998 Disney animated film, which was released in 2020 to mixed reviews.

[39] In 2022, she won the Best Actress Award at the 13th Macau International Television Festival for her role as Zhao Paner in the costume drama "Meng Hua Lu"(梦华录).

[43] In the same year, Liu also released her Japanese album in which the single, "Mayonaka no Door" was chosen to be an ending theme for the anime series Demashita!

[49][50][51] In response to the controversy, Liu was not present at the 2019 D23 Expo, which gave fans an exclusive sneak peek of Mulan.