Born in Wuqi, Shaanxi Province, Jia graduated from Renmin University of China, majoring in national economic management.
[1] He joined Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in April 1962, and had served in various posts in Shaanxi for many years.
In May 1993, he was promoted to the Chinese Communist Party Provincial Standing Committee, and the vice governor of Shaanxi.
[2] In October 2004, Jia was transferred to Beijing and was appointed as executive deputy Minister of Civil Affairs (minister-rank).
[3] In 2012, Jia retired from active politics after having reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 for minister-level officials; he then became a member of the committee on population and environment of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.