Dr. Gu Desheng was born on 13 October 1937 into a farming family in Meixian, Meizhou, Guangdong Province.

From August 1955 to July 1960, he studied Mining Area Development and Management at the Central-South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (now CSU) and obtained his bachelor’s degree.

He joined the Communist Party of China in March 1960.

From October 1960 to September 1978, Dr. Gu worked in the Department of Mining Engineering at the Central-South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Between October 1978 and August 1984, he continued in the same department, where he successively served as Deputy Director of the Teaching and Research Office, Deputy Chair of the department, and Associate Professor.

From September 1985 to May 1989, he worked in the Department of Resource Development Engineering at the Central South University of Technology (formerly the Central-South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy), serving as Department Chair, Director of the affiliated research institute, and Professor.

In January 1989, Dr. Gu was appointed Professor at CSU.

In 1994, he was named one of the “Outstanding People of the 20th Century” by the Cambridge International Biographical Centre.

In May 1995, he was elected Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in the Division of Energy and Mining Engineering.

Dr. Gu served as an Independent Director of Anhui Tongdu Copper Stock Co., Ltd. in 2003 and Western Mining Co., Ltd. in 2007, and as a Non-Executive Director of CMOC Group Limited in 2009.

In March 2012, he established a specialist research studio at Yunnan Tin Group.