 During the NDRC's performance evaluations of civil servants in 2006, Liu was put up for promotion, but was allegedly rebuffed by some of his colleagues for his apparently "arrogant" behavior.Nonetheless he was still appointed to become the Deputy Director of the Northeast China working group at the end of 2006, which placed him at the same rank as a Deputy Minister.Liu was critical of the policies of his then-superior Zhang Guobao.