Early career In 2012, Xin participated in
Hunan TV's youth empowerment variety show
Up Young! (向上吧！少年), winning the title of "Most Positive Youth Award". In 2013, Xin participated in Dragon TV (SDTV)'s dance competition variety show
So You Think You Can Dance (舞林争霸) and won the pass tickets from all four mentors including
Yang Liping,
Jordan Chan,
Jin Xing and Fang Jun. In the same year, she was the winner of
Sexy Dancer Popping competition in
Guiyang, Guizhou, the winner of
Top Battle in Beijing Contemporary Music Academy competition, as well as the runner-up in
China Popping Session. In 2014, Xin won the runner-up in
Dance in Qian City and released her very first original song "Never" (从不). In 2015, Xin released another original piece "18" and won the first place in the contemporary dance division of the
5th Annual Panlong Cup dance competition in the College of Art & Culture of
Tianjin University of Sport.
2016–2019: LadyBees In March 2016, Xin participated in
Zhejiang TV's Chinese girl group survival reality program
Lady Bees (蜜蜂少女队). Prior to recording, she was a trainee for a 3-month closed-door training hosted by Xunfeng Culture. During the competition, was mentored by
Nicky Wu as a member of "Shining Dragon Ball" throughout the show. On May 28, 2016, She made her debut as the center of LadyBees. On April 26, 2017, Xin released a single "Only Have Music Left" (穷得只剩音乐) with Evey Zhang and
Teresa Tseng, a promotional song in movie
Hot Rival (热血情敌). On June 24, she participated in
iQiyi's rap competition
The Rap of China Season 1 (中国有嘻哈第一季) and passed audience approved by mentor
Kris Wu. However, due to conflict of schedule, she stepped down from the competition after advancement. On February 25, 2018, the network movie
Lady Bees starring Liu was released on
iQiyi. On March 17, 2018, Xin participated in
iQiyi's dance reality show
Hot Blood Dance Crew (热血街舞团). On March 23, Xin released her first solo EDM song "Feel Good". On May 20, Liu released her first EP entitled
Xin, including "Hot Party", "Feel Good", Liu also participated in the preparation and post-production process of this album. In August 2018, she made a guest appearance in the movie
iPartment 5 (爱情公寓5). In November 2018, LadyBees released the single and mini-album entitled
Queen Bee, in which Xin starred in minifilm "Girl Power Age". On May 18, 2019, Xin participated in
Youku's street dance competition
Street Dance of China Season II (这！就是街舞第二季). She successfully advanced from
Vanness Wu's audition with her popping performance but was eliminated at the seven to smoke battle in the fifth episode as the 49th place of the season. On August 3, she was a special guest in the
VERVE Street Dance Show hosted by professional street dancer Viho Yang. Due to different personal and professional plans, LadyBees was disbanded later in 2019.
2020–2021: Youth With You 2, The9 In 2020, Xin participated in
iQiyi's reality survival show
Youth with You Season 2. She performed her original song "My Opening Speech" (我的开场白) as a self-introduction on February 22, 2020. On March 22, 2020, Xin performed "No Joke" (adapted from
Show Lo's song) in her Preliminary Ranking stage, and was ranked as A-class. On March 26, 2020, Xin performed "The Eve" from
Exo. She was voted as the first place of the group with 184 votes, and the group was ranked third place among all dance groups. On April 5, Xin was voted as the center of the theme song "Yes! OK!" with 26 votes from fellow trainees. On April 18, Xin performed "Miss You 3000" (想见你想见你想见你) from the band 831 during the second public performance and won the 1st place wweepstake (MVP) with 291 votes. The group was ranked as the first place among all performances. The original singer 831 publicly invited Xin to perform together through Weibo. On May 7, Xin performed "Lion" during the third public performance and won the 1st place sweepstake (MVP) with 183 votes. The group was ranked as the first place among all performances. On May 30, Xin performed "Yes! OK!", "A Little Bit", and "Promise" with the top 20 trainees on the finale night. Xin finished first in the competition with 17,359,242 votes and debuted as the center of the project girl group
The9. Xin was also awarded the title
International Most Popular Trainee at the finale. On June 1, 2020, Xin released the single "Beatholic", a song she assisted with writing and producing. This is her first individual music production after debuting as the center of The9. "Beatholic" was prepared in 2019 prior to Xin's audition for
Youth with You 2. Japanese music producer
Hiroshi Kawaguchi and photographer
Mika Ninagawa were invited and assisted with the music and MV production in Japan. On June 5, 2020, "Beatholic" MV was released, featuring Japanese top street dance group KING OF SWAG.On August 10, 2020, The9 released their first EP "Sphinx X". On September 11, 2020, Xin attended and performed at the
Make Up For Ever new product release event as its brand ambassador. On September 20, Xin attended the
Christian Dior fashion event, Designer of Dreams, performing "Hot party" and "Don't Want to Miss You" (不要想念你) at its private live concert. On October 3, 2020, Xin performed <This is X> as a special guest at the season finale of
Street Dance of China Season III (这！就是街舞第三季). In the same month, she participated in a podcast documentary,
The Nth Years of Intangible Cultural Heritage (非遗第N年), organized by China Central Radio and TV station. As a storyteller, Xin narrated
intangible cultural heritage elements from
Guizhou province of China. From September 13 to October 26, Xin competed at the
JiangsuTV's
Masked Dancing King (蒙面舞王). She was crowned as the Challenger of the second round. On the season's finale, Xin battled in 8v8 routine dance, "Sanchakou" duet dance (a dance incorporating both
Peking Opera and popping elements), and an urban dance "Try". Xin won the Best Battle award of the season. In December 2020, Xin's fashion reality show
Fourtry 2 (潮流合伙人2) was aired. On December 19, she attended the annual
Sohu Fashion Award and received the "Most Popular Celebrity" award. On December 25, The9 released its first album "MatriX" (虚实X境), featuring Xin's original song "Biu Biu". On the same day, Xin was selected "Top Ten People of the Year" by Southern Metropolis Entertainment (南都娱乐). On December 28, Xin was selected as "Most Popular Female Celebrity" by
iFeng (凤凰网). On December 31, she delivered her first "BiuBiu" performance on
JiangsuTV 2021 New Year's Eve Concert. On January 5, 2021, Xin was featured on
iFeng Entertainment's End of the Year Special Campaign
We Still Have Faith - Role Model of the Year (我们还有信仰 – 年度榜样). On February 10, Xin was a special guest for Liu Qian's magic show on
ZhejiangTV Spring Festival Comedy Gala with her teammates. On February 11, Xin performed "Youth on the Run" (奔跑的青春) at ''
CCTV New Year's Gala. On the same day, Kuaishou 2021 Orange vs White Talent Show
was aired; Xin performed "Miss You 3000" (想见你想见你想见你) and "BiuBiu". On February 12, Xin collaborated with singer Mao Amin on HunanTV Global Overseas Chinese Spring Festival'', performing "BiuBiu" and "Smiling at the Sight of You" (一见你就笑). On March 26 and 27 2021, The9 hosted their first online concert
X-CITY (虚实之城), an online live-stream concert utilizing extended reality technology (a combination of virtual, augmented and mixed reality). On April 20, 2021, Xin released her 3-track EP "
Epsilon", including songs
"Of Course", "Practice", and
"U and I". It tops the best selling albums in China and worldwide. On December 5, 2021, The9 officially disbanded and Xin began her solo career. On December 15, 2021, Xin released the MV of "
Baby I know", which is the first track of her very first full-length album "
Xanadu".
2022–present: solo career beginning, Xanadu Over the course of December 2021 – September 2022, Xin has released 9 songs of "
Xanadu". "
Xanadu" includes 10 songs and 10 music videos in total, performed in 10+ distinct dancing styles. Xin experimented traditional Chinese folk music with modern pop in this album. From her interview with ''
and Harpers Bazaar-Vietnam Magazine, The 9 songs that have been released are "Baby I Know", "Black Sun and White Moon", "Hurricane", "New and More", "X-plan", "Look Into The Mirror", "Like Love", "I and I",
and "Boom Tick Boom"''. The last song has remained a secret track, which will soon be released. Xin collaborated with producers such as
Tiger JK, Jeremy Ji, Arai Soichiro to produce the album, where she co-produced and solo-produced a couple of the songs. Her involvement of the album goes beyond as she authored majority of the songs' lyrics. In terms of dance MV, international dancers, including Acky (popping), Melvin Timtim (Hiphop), Tight Eyez (Krump), Aya Sato (Voguing), Lyle Beniga, Lachica, Galen Hooks, 1Million - Jinwoo & Youngbeen, and Kiel Tutin, led the choreography of each songs. On July 18, 2022,
SM released "Better" (Chinese version), where Xin collaborated with
BoA, planned and produced by executive producer
Lee Sooman. "Better" tops the Chinese music and MV charts, and has accumulated over millions of view on YouTube,
Weibo, and
Bilibili. On August 13, 2022, Xin joined
Street Dance of China Season 5 as its very first female captain. Her opening performance showcased her popping skill and New jack swing, a new element for her to incorporate. During an overlapping period of time, Xin also joined E-Pop of China as one of the lead artists to feat various electronic music producers, where she showcased a variety of skills beyond vocals in her performances., including
Talkbox,
B-box, and
Djembe. In April 2024, XIN joined
88rising and made her US debut at Coachella.
Public image and reception Lady Bees era In a report published by 163.com, Xin was described as "not only possesses a cool look, she also has incredible talent in singing and dancing." Nicky Wu, Xin's former mentor during the
Lady Bees competition, described Xin's performance as "having a unique style when she sings and dances." After debuting as a member of LadyBees, China News commented that "Xin and the rest of
Lady Bees are extremely energetic both in front of the camera and in real life. They have great synergy in their music and dance."
EP Xin era After the release of Liu's EP
Xin, famous producer Bingchun Lin commented that Xin possesses the basic quality of being an outstanding artist, which included "professional performances, diligent attitude, positive ambition, and a calm lifestyle". According to Lin, Xin "never fears to pursue new things, challenging her limits nonstop". The newspaper highlighted Xin's embodiment of non-conforming beauty standards in an interview with Wu Han, a producer of
Youth With You 2. Xin was described as an ideal contestant for the show because she "excelled in multiple areas" and she aligned well with the show's goal of "encouraging diversity". In an editorial article by RAIIChina, Xin was described to have "Challenged Gender Norms in Mandopop". Her popularity was included as one of the "most significant cultural events and voices in 2020 which spotlighted women's issues in China in a positive push for change". On Xin's birthday, April 20, 2020, she released her comeback EP
Epsilon which recorded a massive 24hrs sales of 42 million Chinese yuan and currently boasts of 47 million yuan sales. The EP was highly praised by professionals for its richness in music styles, lyrics, composition and production. On December 5, 2021, The9 came out with their final EP
The Nine which also marked the dissolution of the group as their years came to an end. == Philanthropy ==