He was born in Tongwei County, Gansu Province.
A veteran of the Second Zhili–Fengtian War, he was a regiment commander in the Guominjun.
Xing joined the opposition to Chiang Kai-shek.
After the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Xing and Sun Dianying created a guerrilla force in northern Hebei Province and Chahar Province.
[1] During the Chinese Civil War, Xing sided with the Chinese Communist Party against the Kuomintang due to opposition to Chiang.