Zou Erjun was born in October 1931 in Yin County, Zhejiang.[4] He completed a high school education before beginning his career in June 1949, and he joined the Chinese Communist Party in August 1952.[5] Early in his career, he worked as a member of the Southbound Service Corps, and later held positions at the People's Bank of China, including cashier at the Sanming branch, personnel officer in the Sanming County branch, and subsequently deputy section chief, section chief, deputy director, and director of the Longyan Central Sub-branch.[6] He also served as deputy secretary and secretary of the Liancheng County Party Committee, and later as second secretary of the Longyan Prefectural Party Committee.[7][8]
After September 1981, he successively served as Deputy Secretary of the Xiamen Municipal Committee of the CCP, Deputy Mayor of Xiamen, First Deputy Director of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone Administrative Committee.[9] Beginning in January 1983, he successively served as mayor of Xiamen, municipal party secretary, and secretary and director of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone Administrative Committee. In December 1987, he was re-elected as Mayor of Xiamen.[10][11][12]