Born and raised in Rongcheng, Shandong, he worked in government after college. During the late Cultural Revolution, he worked as a sent-down youth for more than a year. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in March 1977. He served as mayor of Qingdao from 2012 to 2017, and mayor and party chief of Weifang from 2002 to 2011. At the height of his political career, he was vice chairman of Shandong People's Congress.
