Lou Jiwei was born in December 1950, is from Yiwu, Zhejiang, and holds a master's degree in economics.

He started working in February 1968, joined the Chinese Communist Party in January 1973, and graduated from the Institute of Quantitative and Technological Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a major in economic system analysis in December 1984.

[3] In 2013, President Xi Jinping called for the creation of state-owned investment companies to invest in key industries such as civil aviation, energy, mineral resources, nuclear power, and logistics.

[4]: 15  As Finance Minister, and with prior sovereign fund experience as the chair of China Investment Corporation and its former CEO, Lou was tasked with developing this proposal and served as lead author for the State Council's "Opinions on Reforming and Improving the State-Owned Assets Management System.

[3] In 2008, Time magazine considered Lou to be one of the 100 most influential people in the world.