Wu Shezhou was born in Hanchuan, Hubei Province in 1958, and served in the Guangzhou Military Region for most of his career.

In late 2014, he was transferred to the Jinan Military Region to serve as its Director of the Political Department, succeeding Jiang Yong (姜勇).

[1] In January 2017 Wu was promoted to Political Commissar of the strategic Western Theater Command, replacing General Zhu Fuxi.

At the time of his appointment Wu was the youngest of the ten top officers of China's five theater commands.

[2] On August 20, 2021, he was appointed vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Ethnic Affairs Committee.