Dalian Shide Xu began his football career at
Dalian with
Dalian Shide's youth academy. His potential was quickly identified by the First team in 2004. For Xu's first senior season in China, he was only named in the substitutes list for two matches and made no appearances. The two games he was listed on the substitutes list were in November 2004; the match against
Shanghai Shenhua on 11 November, and against
Tianjin Teda on 24 November. He was sent to the field in the match, which held on 11 November, on the 91st-minute. He came off the bench at the last moment of the game so the report did not show that. Since Dalian Shide and
Citizen organised a project, Dalian Shide sent some youth players to Citizen. In 2005, Xu was sent to Hong Kong, with other teammates such as
Chao Pengfei and
Ju Yingzhi. He was called up by Dalian Shide U19 for the
2006 China U19 Champions Cup, and the team won the championship. After the tournament, he returned to Hong Kong side Citizen again with
Wang Xuanhong. He came on in the 71st-minute as a substitute for
So Yiu Man in a 3–0 away defeat. He went back to Dalian over the summer where he made five appearances. He helped Citizen to win the
2007–08 Hong Kong FA Cup; during which he appeared in every game. This was the first top-level domestic cup won by Citizen since the club's founding in 1947. This earned him an official transfer to Citizen in the summer of 2008. Xu was appointed as one of the
vice-captains of Citizen in 2008. He started two matches as captain in the
2008–09 season. Xu scored both his first and second senior career goal in the match against
Hong Kong Sheffield United on 2 May 2009. Despite many transfer rumours regarding Xu in the winter of 2009, Citizen football department director
Pui Ho Wang said that Xu is a "not-for-sale item" at the club. In a
Senior Shield match on
Boxing Day in 2009, Xu and
Fung Kai Hong verbally abused the referee
Gary Wong Po On after a controversial decision. He was subsequently banned for four club matches from 12 January 2010. Xu returned in the league match against
Sun Hei on 12 March 2010, coming on as a substitute at the 64th-minute for Citizen teammate
Wong Yiu Fu and scored a goal during second half injury time. Xu was named
Hong Kong Top Footballers of the Year again after the 2009–10 season. In the ceremony, chairman of
South China Steven Lo said Xu became a member of his team in the 2010–11 season.
South China 2010–11 on 18 September 2010 Xu signed with
South China on 1 June 2010 since he believed it is a suitable time for him to start a new career in a big club like South China at 22 years of age. He want to get more honours in South China and he takes the
AFC Cup as his first target in club. Xu was the starting player in the game as South China inflicted a 2–0 defeat over his former club Citizen. In the end, South China defeated Sun Hei by 2–1 and moved to the top of league table. After the
2010 Asian Games, Xu returned to the club but he played in a new role
deep-lying playmaker to spare the right-winger position for
Lee Wai Lim. In the league match against
Kitchee on 11 December 2010, Xu was sent off for a challenge on
Jordi Tarrés. South China lost the game by 3–4 and suffered its first defeat of
the 2010–11 season. He delivered a corner to
Bai He at 51 minutes and Bai He headed in the goal. South China advanced to the final after the 3–0 victory. So, he missed
the final of Senior Challenge Shield. Furthermore, South China lost the final by
penalty shootout to his former club Citizen. Two months later, Xu made his league debut after injury on 31 March in a 3–1 defeat to former club Citizen. In the match, Xu scored at the 78-minute after coming on as a substitute just 7 minutes before. Caretaker coach of South China
Chan Ho Yin said Xu's recovery could raise the competitiveness of the team and it was a piece of good news before
Hong Kong derby. South China has won
League Cup and
FA Cup in the season, but failed in
2012 AFC Cup qualifying. Xu played over 800 minutes in league match, less than last season in Citizen, and scored 4 goals.
2011–12 New coach
Ján Kocian appointed Xu as a
box-to-box midfielder and played as one of
playmakers with captain
Li Haiqiang but he could not have a good performance. After a downturn of South China, Xu returned to play as a right winger and he scored in the
shield match which defeated
Sham Shui Po. Ironically, Xu had a mistake which cause
Fong Pak Lun scored at the 78-minute in this game. In a league game against
Tai Po on 3 December 2011, Xu scored by an assist made by
Chan Siu Ki and made an assist for Chan Siu Ki. It led South China to win the game by 3 goals. In
Lunar New Year, South China held a friendly four-team mid-season tournament
2012 Asian Challenge Cup and Xu played both the semi-final and third-place match in the event. However, South China got the fourth place. In the following days of the season, South China was eliminated in
2011–12 Hong Kong League Cup and
2011–12 Hong Kong FA Cup, also by
Kitchee. For the
2011–12 Hong Kong First Division League, Xu finished his second season with South China as 3rd place in the league and failed in
2013 AFC Cup qualifying again. As the result, Xu left from South China after the season.
Pegasus TSW Pegasus reformed after the 2011–12 season and was renamed as Sun Pegasus. Xu had agreed terms with the Pegasus for his transfer and the coach
Chan Chi Hong claimed that Xu would be a leader of the team even though he is just a young player. In the team, Xu had more opportunities in his habitual position, the right midfield, so his performance became better much. However, Pegasus ranked the 8th in the league table of the
first division after week 9, the mid of the season. Xu scored the 1–1 equaliser in a league match against
Southern on 19 January 2013 and earned a valuable point in their race to once again escape from First Division League relegation. Pegasus made consecutive games undefeated after this match. Before the
New Territories derby in
FA Cup against
Tai Po, some
media in Hong Kong believe Xu would be the Pegasus's key to winning the match. Pegasus finally beat Tai Po and advanced to the final of the FA Cup.
Kitchee Xu joined
Kitchee from fellow First Division club
Pegasus for an undisclosed fee on 30 May 2013, since Kitchee qualified for
2013 AFC Cup quarter-finals and the team would strengthen their squad with local player.
Eastern Xu joined
Eastern in the summer of 2015. On 1 June 2020, Xu left when his contract expired with the club and subsequently he retired from professional football. ==International career==