In 2013, Ding entered the China women's national volleyball team roster for the first time, but was not required to attend trainings.

After a disappointing performance in the preliminary rounds, the team achieved a surprising turnaround, beating gold medal favourite and host Brazil in the quarter-finals, much to the shock of 20,000 spectators.

The team then narrowly beat the Netherlands 3-1 in the semi-finals and Serbia in the finals to win their third Olympic gold medal in history.

In 2017, Ding Xia participated in the World Grand Champions Cup, successfully helping her team win the championship title, beating rivals USA, Brazil and Russia along the way.

Despite the absence of key player Zhang Changning, Team China displayed their absolute dominance in Asia at the tournament, winning eight consecutive matches with 3-0 scores to achieve gold.

In front of a rambunctious home crowd, team China lost 0-2 to Italy, before winning three consecutive sets to secure a 3-2 victory.

In front of a home crowd in Jiangmen, China, the national team beat European opponents Czech Republic, Germany and Turkey to win a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

With the absence of rivals Italy and key players from Serbia, the team powered to a gold medal finish with 11 consecutive wins, dropping only 3 sets along the way, beating opponents such as USA, Brazil and Japan.