In 1927, he returned to China from Vietnam, having previously attended Shanghai Datong University before discontinuing his studies. Lin became a member of the Chinese Communist Youth League in 1930 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1937. He occupied leadership positions in Shanghai, acting as general secretary of the Shanghai Student Salvation Association and as a member of the CCP student committee and district committee secretary. Between 1938 and 1941, Lin diligently orchestrated anti-Japanese initiatives in Shanghai, disseminating fliers, coordinating performances, conducting fundraising campaigns, galvanizing support for the fight, and motivating students to enlist in resistance organizations.[2]
In 1941, Lin was designated to the anti-Japanese base in central Jiangsu ("Su–Zhong"), where he assumed the name Lin Xiude. He held the positions of Publicity Minister of the CCP Nantong County Committee, Director of the Su–Zhong Office, and Chief of the Police Bureau of the Second Special District of Su–Zhong. Subsequent to 1945, he assumed the role of Secretary of the East Tai County Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Urban Work Committee of the Central China Workers' Committee, and Deputy Secretary of the CCP Lianghuai Municipal Committee.[3]
Following the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, Lin assumed the role of Deputy Secretary of the Suzhou Municipal Committee before transitioning to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee. In 1950, he occupied several positions: Deputy Secretary, Mayor, and Secretary of the Xiamen.[4] In 1954, he was elected to the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, where he held the positions of Secretary-General, Minister of United Front Work, Vice-chair of the provincial CPPCC, and Alternate Secretary of the Provincial Secretariat in succession.[5] He concurrently held the position of First Secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee. In the latter half of 1963, Lin assumed the role of deputy director and Party Deputy Secretary at the State Council's Office for Overseas Chinese Affairs, while simultaneously being chosen as a Standing Committee member of the 4th and 5th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.[6]
Lin played a major role in the founding of Fuzhou University in 1958. In 1975, he assumed the head of the Philosophy and Social Sciences Division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (subsequently the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) and served as a delegate to the 11th National Congress of the CCP. In 1978, he was designated deputy director and Party Deputy Secretary of the State Council’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, and in 1985, he assumed the role of counselor to the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. Lin retired in January 1994 and died on April 8, 1998, in Beijing.[7]