Xie Kedong was born in August 1911 in Fengjing, Jinshan County, Jiangsu (now part of Jinshan District, Shanghai). He joined the revolutionary movement in 1932 and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in August 1933. During this period, he also participated in the League of Left-Wing Writers, engaging in progressive literary activities and workers' movements.[2][3]
In 1936, Xie was sent by the CCP to Xi'an, where he worked secretly within the Northeastern Army. He carried out underground Party work in the army's student corps, training classes, and the 67th Army, serving as a branch secretary and special branch secretary. From July 1939 to January 1943, he served in the Southeast Bureau of the CCP Central Committee, where he was head of the research group and CCP secretary of the bureau's training class, as well as secretary of the CCP Rugao (East) County Committee and political commissar of the New Fourth Army's Rudong Guard Regiment.[2]
It was during his work in central Jiangsu that Xie adopted the name "Kedong" to distinguish himself from another cadre of the same name, a native of Taixing, who became known as "Xie Kexi", reportedly at the suggestion of Ji Pengfei. From February 1943 to October 1945, Xie served as head of several departments within the CCP's Central Jiangsu Fourth Prefectural Committee, including the Secret Work Department, the Enemy-Occupied Areas Work Department, and the Urban Work Department.[4]
During the Chinese Civil War, Xie continued to hold leadership roles in Jiangsu, including serving as secretary of the Rugao County Committee and head of the Organization Department of the Central Jiangsu First Prefectural Committee.[5] After the main forces of the New Fourth Army moved north in 1946, he remained in central Jiangsu as a member of the South Jiangsu Party, Government, and Military Committee. In March 1947, he was appointed secretary of the Taixing County Committee.[6]
Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xie held numerous senior positions in Jiangsu Province. These included Party Secretary of Wuxi, Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, First Deputy Director of the Provincial People's Government Supervision Commission, Deputy Head of the Organization Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, First Secretary of the Nantong Prefectural Committee, First Secretary of the Yancheng Prefectural Committee, and Party Secretary of Nantong.[7] He later served as Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fifth Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress.[8]
Xie Kedong died on January 11, 2001.[9]