Linghu was born in Zhaowuda League (now Chifeng), Inner Mongolia, in October 1946, while his ancestral home in Pinglu County, Shanxi.[1] In 1965, he entered Beijing Institute of Technology, majoring in infrared ray. After graduating in 1970, he was assigned to Dalian Qianjin Machinery Factory, and worked there until 1977.
He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in December 1965, and got involved in politics in August 1977, when he was appointed an official in the Dalian Machinery Industry Bureau.[1] After that, he successively served in the Dalian Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, Dalian Instrument and Electronic Industry Bureau, Dalian Federation of Trade Unions, and Dalian Economic System Reform Commission.[1] He was appointed executive vice mayor of Dalian in July 1985 and was admitted to member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Dalian Municipal Committee, the city's top authority.
In October 1988, he was transferred to Beijing and appointed director of the General Office of the Ministry of Labor [zh], and one year later he was promoted vice minister, concurrently serving as a member of the State Commission for Economic Restructuring [zh].[1]
In September 1993, he became deputy party secretary of Yunnan, rising to party secretary in August 1997.[1][3] He also served as chairman of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference between January 1998 and October 2001.
In October 2001, he was chosen as deputy head of the National Audit Office and became a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in October 2007.[4] In March 2013, he took office as vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee.