[1] Between April 1995 and January 1996 he was sent to the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as a part-time student.
[2] In 1998, Qiu instituted a program for local teachers to take part in activities courting private investment in the city of Suqian.
In 1999, Qiu spearheaded another program publicly 'naming and shaming' those caught with petty crimes on local television, earning a special feature report on the liberal Southern Weekend newspaper.
[2] In January 2006 he was promoted to become Vice-Governor of Jiangsu, one year later, he was transferred to Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, and served as the Communist Party Secretary.
[1] In November 2011 he was promoted again to become Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Yunnan, he remained in that position until March 2015, when he was being investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for "serious violations of laws and regulations".
On July 31, Qiu was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party at the conclusion of the investigation into him by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.