Communist University of the Toilers of the East
In January 1928, Sha went to study in Shanghai. In July 1929, Sha went to Moscow and studied at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, where he studied Russian Marxism-Leninism and met his future wife Chen Xiuliang (). In February 1932, Sha went to Tokyo, Japan, and studied at the Imperial University of Tokyo and Japan Railway School (). In 1934, Sha went back to Shanghai but soon to Tokyo again. In 1940, Sha was the acting CCP party chief (Secretary-general) of Jiangsu Province.