Xu Jin was born in 1958 in Huangyan, Zhejiang. He graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now the China Academy of Art) in 1982. As one of the initiators of the 85 New Space exhibition in Zhejiang, he later joined the faculty of the Oil Painting Department at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. In 1986, Xu assisted Maryn Varbanov in establishing the Maryn Varbanov Tapestry Research Center. His soft sculpture Yin-Yang was featured in the China/Avant-Garde Exhibition. In 1989, he was invited by Lakeside Studio in Chicago to create artwork in the United States, later settling in New York, where he continues to live and work.