Gao commenced work in 1967 and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1978.[1]
Gao worked in a variety of economics posts within the CCP, including under the Ministry of Finance. In 2001 he became the assistant secretary to the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the director of an office under it. In 2003, Gao became the CCP Committee Secretary for the Ministry of Health, and the deputy minister of its standing committee. On April 27, 2005, he was made the acting minister of health after the departure of Wu Yi.[1] On June 29, 2007, a new minister was appointed, and Gao was demoted to deputy minister. He retained his position as the ministry's CCP Committee Secretary.[2] In 2009, Gao stepped down from the Ministry of Health, but soon after was appointed deputy director of the Finance Committee and director of the budget committee of the National People's Congress.[3]
