Career
Xu was born in Wujiang, Jiangsu province. He enlisted in the PLA in 1969, and served in the 23rd Army. In 1997 he entered the PLA General Political Department (GPD).
In 2004 he was put in charge of the cadres department of the GPD. In 2007 he became assistant to the director of the Department.
In July 2012 he was promoted to full general. In December 2014, Xu replaced General Sun Sijing as Political Commissar of the PLA Academy of Military Science.
