[3] Xu is the director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, since 2008.
[3] Later, due to work reasons, he came into contact with Robert Bagley, a professor at Princeton University who came to Shanghai for academic exchanges.
[3][7] Since June 2008, Xu has served as the director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, succeeding Emily Sano.
[3] In 2017, Xu led a fundraising campaign to fund the museum's building renovation and expansion.
[8][3][9] In 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests, the museum under Xu's leadership removed the bust of Avery Brundage, someone accused of being a Nazi sympathizer and a racist.