He was a principal aide to Jiang Zemin, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (paramount leader).

In 1989 after the Tiananmen Square protests, Jiang was promoted to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Jia joined him on his staff, serving in the Office of the General Secretary and Office of the Central Military Commission Chairman.

[3] On January 14, 2015, Mingjing News reported that Jia may have been taken in for investigation in a corruption case, but this could not be independently verified nor were there official announcements made.

[4] Duowei News reported that Jia, who had no military background, rose so high in the ranks of the People's Liberation Army solely due to his patronage relationship with Jiang Zemin.

[5] The Chinese journal Yanhuang Chunqiu implied that Jia might be linked to the disgraced vice admiral Wang Shouye, who was sentenced to life in prison during the term of Hu Jintao for corruption.