[3] Xia was born to a Scottish and English mother and Jamaican father in Waltham Forest, London, and was raised in Leytonstone and Newham.
As a young actor he appeared in Tube Tale's Mouth directed by Armando Iannucci.
[6] He also directed the revival of Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange for the Young Vic in 2015 starring David Haig, Daniel Kaluuya and Luke Norris.
From 2014 to 2017 he was Associate Artistic Director at the Manchester Royal Exchange where he directed the Bruntwood Award-winning Wish List by Katherine Soper, Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and Frankenstein adapted by April de Angelis.
[6] Xia was a member of the panel of judges for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2017 alongside: Alfred Enoch, Lucy Prebble, Russell T. Davies, Lyndsey Turner, Michael Oglesby, Phil Porter, and chair Kirsty Lang.