Cao was born in Tianchang, Anhui Province in September 1971. He studied business administration at Beijing Institute of Business (now Capital University of Economics and Business) from 1989 to 1993.[1] Upon graduation, he joined the Nanjing tax authorities and worked in various capacities, eventually becoming deputy director of the personnel division of the Nanjing Local Taxation Bureau. In November 2000, Cao was appointed Deputy District Governor of Qinhuai District in Nanjing.[2] He later served as Executive Deputy District Governor and held concurrent Party leadership positions within the district. Between 2001 and 2004, he completed a graduate program in industrial economics at Southeast University, earning a master's degree in economics. He was certified as a senior accountant in 2005.[3]
From 2009 to 2010, Cao was General Manager of Nanjing Communications Construction Investment Holding (Group) Co., Ltd. He returned to government as District Governor of Nanjing's Xiaguan District in 2010, and later of Gulou District, while completing a doctorate in management science and engineering from Southeast University. Between 2012 and 2014, he also pursued an MBA at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.[4][5]
He served as Party Secretary of Qinhuai District from 2015 to 2017 and concurrently led the Nanjing South New Town Development and Construction Management Committee.[1] In 2017, he was appointed to the Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party as head of its Publicity Department.[6]
In April 2018, Cao became Chinese Communist Party Deputy Committee Secretary and Acting Mayor of Yancheng. He was confirmed as Mayor in January 2019 and promoted to Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary in July 2021.[7] From November 2021, he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Party Secretary of Suzhou.[8] He also served as Party Secretary of Suzhou Laboratory beginning in July 2022.[9]
In October 2023, he was transferred to Jilin Province and appointed as a Standing Committee member of the Jilin Provincial CCP Committee and minister of its Publicity Department. In October 2024, he assumed the concurrent position of Chairman of the Jilin Federation of Social Sciences.[10][1]
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