Liu was born in 1911 in Yongchun, Fujian province in China but moved to Muar, Malaya in 1916 where he spent his adolescence. In 1926, he returned to China to study at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Art for two years; he later moved to Paris for five years before returning to Shanghai to teach at his alma mater until 1937 when he returned to Malaya. Liu travelled to Bali with fellow painters Chen Wen Hsi, Chen Chong Swee and Cheong Soo Pieng in 1952, and the works produced as a result of that trip became key to the development of the Nanyang style.
Liu's works are done in distinctly bright colours and a flattened sense of perspective, a unique style of visual expression that draws on diverse influences ranging from Chinese ink painting, batik, and Matisse's colour block technique. An influential figure in the early days of Singapore's art scene, Liu served as the President of the Society of Chinese Artists, Singapore from 1946 to 1958 and was President of the Singapore Art Society from 1968 to 1979. His works have been exhibited in Singapore, France, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the United States.