[2] Xu was deputy general manager of Yunnan Tobacco Industry Company in January 2004, in addition to serving as chairman of Hongyun Group.
[2] In October 2007, Xu was appointed as chairman of the branches of Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong of China Tobacco.
[2] Xu was party branch secretary, director, and general manager of Jiangxi Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau in June 2010 and subsequently party branch secretary, director, and general manager of Beijing Municipal Tobacco Monopoly Bureau in July 2012.
[2] In March 2014, Xu was promoted to deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, responsible for the Development Planning Department, Financial Management and Supervision Department (Audit Department), Office of the Leading Group for Electronic Cigarette Supervision and Management, Tobacco Economic Information Center, China Tobacco Leaf Company, China Cigarette Sales Company, and China Tobacco Business Logistics Co., Ltd..[2] On 25 May 2024, Xu was put under investigation for alleged "serious violations of discipline and laws" by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the party's internal disciplinary body, and the National Supervisory Commission, the highest anti-corruption agency of China.
[3] Xu is the fifth senior official in the tobacco system to be targeted since the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party's anti-corruption campaign.