He joined the Chinese Communist Party in October 1973, and is an alumnus of Southeast University, though it is not clear when he graduated.
He entered the Jiangsu provincial party standing committee in December 2000, ascending to sub-provincial level at the age of 47; he oversaw poverty reduction and rural affairs work.
[1] As Governor of Gansu, Xu was responsible for the personnel, environmental, economic, political and foreign policy of the province.
[1] The Governorship ranks second in the province behind the Chinese Communist Party Provincial Committee Secretary.
On September 3, 2016, he was appointed a vice chair of the National People's Congress Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.