In March 1979, Lou was one of the first batch of students admitted to university after the restoration of the Gaokao exams under Deng Xiaoping.
He rose quickly in the Communist Youth League system, through 'acid tests' in Longyou County in the local party organization there.
During his terms in Jinhua and Lishui, Lou worked under the direction of then-Zhejiang party secretary Xi Jinping.
As such Lou has been named by political observers as a member of the "New Zhijiang Army", politicians who once worked under Xi and share his governing philosophies.
[citation needed] In January 2008, he became vice chair of the People's Political Consultative Conference of Zhejiang and the head of the province's United Front Department.