Xu Guangguo was born in February 1964 in Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County, Heilongjiang, China. He is of Han ethnicity. He studied English at Daqing Normal College and later pursued graduate studies in national economics at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he obtained a doctorate in economics. Xu joined the Chinese Communist Party in June 1984 and began his professional career in July 1984.[3]
Xu started his career in Daqing, Heilongjiang Province, where he held various grassroots and local leadership positions, including organization officer and deputy Party secretary of Lamadian Town in Ranghulu District. He later served as mayor of Lamadian Town and subsequently as member of the Standing Committee and deputy district head of Datong District in Daqing. In 1995, he was appointed director and Party secretary of the Daqing Township and Village Enterprises Bureau.[4][5]
In March 1997, Xu became Party Secretary of Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County, a position he held for several years. He later served as Party Secretary of Suifenhe and concurrently as mayor. In December 2006, he was appointed Deputy Party Secretary and acting mayor of Mudanjiang, and in January 2007 he became Party Secretary of Mudanjiang.[6] In January 2011, Xu was appointed Vice Governor of Heilongjiang Province. Later that year, in October 2011, he was transferred to the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the regional Party Committee. From November 2011 to June 2017, he served concurrently as Party Secretary of Yinchuan, the regional capital.[7]
In June 2017, Xu was appointed Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In March 2018, he was transferred to Shanxi Province, where he became a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and head of the United Front Work Department.[8] In December 2019, Xu was additionally appointed Deputy Party Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In January 2024, he was further elected Vice Chairman of the Shanxi Provincial CPPCC, while continuing to serve in his other roles.[9]