He was born in Hubei Province, China. He entered Lanzhou University to study Mechanics and received his B. Eng and M. Sc. in 1988 and 1991, respectively. After working 5 years as a lecturer in the Geology Department of Lanzhou University, he became a research student (1996-1997) and then a graduate student in Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University (1997-2000) with the support of Japanese Government Fellowship. After obtaining his doctor degree, he worked about 3 years as a Researcher in DPRI, Kyoto University (2000-2003). After that he worked as an assistance professor followed by the position of associate professor.