Xu Jiayin was born to a rural family in Jutaigang Village, Gaoxian Township, Taikang County, Henan, on October 9, 1958. His father is a retired soldier who participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s and 1940s. After the establishment of the Communist State, he became a warehouseman in his home-village. Xu’s mother died of sepsis when he was 8 months old. He was raised by his paternal grandmother. After high school, he worked in a cement product factory for a few days and then worked for two years at home. He was the production team leader. After resuming the college entrance examination in 1978, Xu was accepted to Wuhan Institute of Iron and Steel (now Wuhan University of Science and Technology), serving as commissary in charge of Hygienic in his class.

After university in 1982, Xu was assigned to the heat-treatment shop of Wuyang Iron and Steel Company (Chinese: 舞阳钢铁公司), where he was promoted to associate director in 1983 and director in 1985. Xu served as director for seven years there. After he resigned in 1992, he moved to Shenzhen, the newly founded special economic zone in southeast China’s Guangdong province. He was accepted by a trading company named “Zhongda” (Chinese: 中达). One year later, he became president of its branch office named “Quanda” (Chinese: 全达). On October 1, 1994, Xu moved to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, to establish the Guangzhou Pengda Industrial Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 广州鹏达实业有限公司). In March 1997, he founded the Evergrande Group and served as its chairman of the board. Xu is the owner of Guangzhou Evergrande football club, one of China’s most successful football clubs as of 2016.

in 2019, Xu announced a three-year investment in electric cars worth approximately $6.4 billion.

In 2020, Forbes listed Xu as third on the list of Richest Chinese Billionaires. However, his wealth is estimated to have dropped over $20 billion in the past three years due to mounting debts, which was exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic.