Fish Biologist and Zoologist.

Native of Xianyou county, Fujian Province.

In Aug 1964, Chen graduated from the Department of Biology at Xiamen University.

In 1988, he was a  senior visiting scholar at Natural History Museum (London).

In 1989, he was a professor at Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

During 1991-1995, Chen served as director of Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

1995-2003, served as vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

2004-2013, he served as the president of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).