Xu was born in April 1961 in Tongcheng, Anhui province. He studied inorganic chemical engineering at Hefei University of Technology from 1978 to 1982, and subsequently obtained a master's degree in inorganic chemistry from the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry in 1985. In 1989, he received his doctorate in chemical engineering from Nanjing Institute of Chemical Technology (now Nanjing Tech University).[2]
Xu joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1988. He remained in academia after completing his doctorate, rising from lecturer to associate professor and later full professor. Between 1996 and 1999, he served as director of the Graduate School at Nanjing University of Chemical Technology, and from 1999 to 2001 he was dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. In 2001, he became vice president of Nanjing University of Technology, while continuing his research in membrane science.[3] Since 2007, he has been director of the State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering.[2][4]
From 2011 to 2015, Xu served as director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology and concurrently as vice chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government.[5] In 2015, he was appointed Vice Governor of Jiangsu.[6] Later that year, he was promoted to Vice Minister of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, a post he held until 2021.[7]
Xu's research has focused on inorganic membranes and membrane processes. His contributions have been recognized with the State Technological Invention Award (Second Class), the State Science and Technology Progress Award (Second and Third Class), and several provincial-level prizes. He was elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017.[8][9]
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