Liu was born in the town of , in
Shishou County (now Shishou),
Hubei, in July 1933. He secondary studied at Shishou High School. He became president of the
PLA Academy of Military Science in November 1997, and served until his retirement in December 1998. During his tenure in 1987, he commanded the troops to put out the forest fire in
Daxinganling. He was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant general (
zhongjiang) in 1988 and
general (
shangjiang) in 1994. == Publication ==