He entered Qinghai University in September 1979, majoring in agriculture, where he graduated in July 1983. After college, he was assigned to 59076 Army, then worked in Quartermaster Department of the People's Liberation Army General Logistics Department.
He entered politics in January 1986, when he was transferred to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and appointed as an official in Sichuan Provincial Office of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and over a period of 11 years worked his way up to the position of Director of the Financial Department. From November 1994 to October 1996 he served as Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Jianyang. In January 1997 he was promoted to become the Director of Sichuan Provincial Aquatic Products Bureau, a position he held until December 2000.
In December 2000, he was transferred to Panzhihua, and served as the Deputy Communist Party Secretary. In July 2005, he was transferred again to Ya'an, he served as Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Ya'an from 2005 to 2006, and Communist Party Secretary, the top political position in the city, from June 2006 to November 2013.
In December 2013, state media announced that Xu would undergo investigation for "serious violations of law and discipline." Then he was dismissed from his post and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party.[2] In January 2015, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison and confiscated his assets (200,000 yuan).[3][4]
PB Former member of the Politburo; PLA Also a military official; CDI Member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection or affiliates ; S Committed suicide 1For details on the civil service ranks of officials, please see Civil Service of the People's Republic of China; 2Army generals listed have attained at least the rank of Major General, which usually enjoys the same administrative privileges as a civilian official of sub-provincial rank.