 Tong received his Master of Engineering degree from Hunan University in December 1993.Tong served as the head of Hunan provincial party Communications Department between November 1991 to July 1993, the Deputy Secretary of the Communist Youth League provincial organization between July 1993 to August 1997.In August 1997, Tong was transferred to Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture as the a Standing Committee member of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and the head of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Organization Department.