A pediatrician by training, Shen rose through the ranks in the health and education bureaucracy of Shanghai. He successively served as party chief of Pudong and vice minister of education. From 2017 to 2020, he served as the Governor of Hainan, and as Hainan's party secretary from 2020 to 2023.
In January 2008, he was named vice mayor of Shanghai. In May 2013, he was named party chief of Pudong, joining the municipal Standing Committee two months later.[1] On April 8, 2015, he succeeded Ai Baojun to become head administrator of the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone.[2]
In October 2016, Shen was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Education.[3] Shen was appointed as the acting Governor of Hainan in April 2017.[4]