She previously worked for the Institute of West Asian and African Studies (IWAAS), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and served as a visiting scholar at Institute of African Studies of Carleton University and the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She serves as Executive Director & General Secretary of the Centre for African Studies, Peking University and as the Vice President of the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies. Dr. Liu has authored, edited and translated numerous publications in English and Chinese