He was influenced by the early revolutionaries of Shaanxi, such as Wei Yechu and Wang Fusheng, and joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League in 1923.

In October 1925, Pan Zili was sent to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow; in January 1926, he became a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1931, under the support of Yang Hucheng, he went to study in France; in 1932, he moved to the United Kingdom to participate in the work of the Chinese Language Group of the British Communist Party; in May 1933, he returned to China.

In 1935, the Red Four Front Army was found in northern Sichuan, served as an officer in the General Political Department, and participated in the Long March.

In September 1936, Pan Zili rejoined the Chinese Communist Party and served as a political instructor at the Red Army University; after the Xi’an Incident, he transferred the Northwest People’s Movement Steering Committee as the Minister of the Organization Department; later he served as the Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee.