Xiao Zhan (, born 5 October 1991) is a Chinese actor and singer. He began his career in the entertainment industry when he participated in the idol survival show X-Fire (2015) and joined the Chinese boy group X Nine. He achieved breakthrough success with the xianxia drama The Untamed (2019), followed by dramas Joy of Life (2019), The Wolf (2020), Douluo Continent (2021), Ace Troops (2021), The Oath of Love (2022), The Youth Memories (2023), The Longest Promise (2023), Sunshine by My Side (2023), The Legend of Zang Hai (2025) as well as films Jade Dynasty (2019), Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants (2025) and Gezhi Town (2025).
As a singer, Xiao Zhan released "Spotlight" in 2020, which set the Guinness World Record for the highest-selling digital single of all time, the fastest-selling digital track, and the biggest-selling digital single in China. In 2024, he released his first studio album WM, which became the best-selling album of all time on TME Physical Album Sales Chart and earned him "Album of the Year" at the QQ Music Awards.
Early life and education Xiao Zhan was born on 5 October 1991, in Chongqing. From childhood, he began to learn painting and play the violin. He studied at Modern International Art Design Academy at Chongqing Technology and Business University wherein he was a member of the class literary committee and an active participant in the university choir, the head of the vocal music department of the student art troupe, the head of the male vocal department, and participated in the school's language art troupe as an actor. He was once awarded the title of the top ten singers on campus.
In 2012, he set up a photography studio with his friends and served as their main photographer. After his graduation in 2014 and prior to his debut, Xiao worked as a photographer and graphic designer.
Acting career
2015–2018: Career beginnings
Xiao Zhan’s acting career began on the set of the youth fantasy series, Super Star Academy. He joined the filming on April 15, 2016 and portrayed the leading character, Fang Tian Ze.Super Star Academy was filmed in Hongzhou from April 15, 2016.https://m.weibo.cn/detail/3964471540572133 Super Star Academy Weibo post, The series premiered on September 29 and garnered 1.68 billion views on Tencent Video.
In 2017, between April 9 and September 18, Xiao Zhan was filming for The Wolf, as Ji Chong, one of the main characters, who has double identity, the bounty hunter and the prince. This was his first participation in a major drama production (49 episodes) with well known production team and cast members, he gained a lot of acting experience on the set of this drama.
In 2018, he starred as Beitang Moran in the well-received historical romance web drama Oh! My Emperor, which garnered over 3.58 billion views. His portrayal of a domineering yet gentle prince earned him recognition. Additionally, he played Liu Xiuya in the fantasy action drama Battle Through the Heavens that same year.
He made cameo appearances in series and films between 2016 and 2018, including Shuttle Love Millennium 2, Monster Hunt 2, and The Rookies.
2019–2020: Breakthrough and rise to prominence In 2019, Xiao starred in the xianxia drama The Untamed, adapted from the web novel Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (墨香铜臭). His portrayal of the carefree and unrestrained Wei Wuxian, who evolves into the darker and tormented Yiling Laozu (Yiling Patriarch), received very positive reviews, aiding the series' rise in popularity; it had gained over 10 billion views by December 2021. The series also gained a huge following overseas after it became available on Netflix on 25 October 2019. In the same year, he portrayed the protagonist Zhang Xiaofan in the film Jade Dynasty, adapted from the xianxia novel Zhu Xian by Xiao Ding (萧鼎). The film topped the China box office on its opening day that earned over 400 million yuan within 18 days of release and became the highest-grossing Chinese language movie in Thailand in a decade. In September 2019, it was announced that Xiao had established his own studio, "XZ STUDIO," in collaboration with Wajijiwa Entertainment.
On January 24, 2020, Xiao appeared as a participant in CCTV New Year's Gala for the first time, acting out a skit Like You Like Me alongside Xie Na. On 26 November 2020, the historical drama Joy of Life streamed on Tencent and iQIYI, where he played the supporting role Yan Bingyun, and featured him in the soundtrack "余年" (Remaining Years). Xiao starred in The Wolf as Ji Chong and was released on Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku on 19 November 2020. The series topped the popularity indexes in mainland China since its release and surpassed 500 million views on a single platform within 11 days. As of December 2020, the total number of viewership on the three platforms has exceeded 1 billion, with an average daily view of nearly 100 million. In late 2020, Xiao was filming Ace Troops, which wrapped production on 14 December 2020.
2021–2024: Mainstream success and theater debut
In February 2021, the drama Douluo Continent, adapted from the acclaimed book series of the same name by Tang Jia San Shao, premiered on CCTV-8, CCTV Video App and Tencent Video. Xiao played as the protagonist Tang San, a rare wielder of dual martial souls. Douluo Continent was one of the most successful dramas in China, with a total of 5.70 billion views, the highest single-day broadcast volume of 211 million views, and an average of 138 million views per episode. China Literature also recognized it as one of the most successful dramas adapted from IP of the year.
On 29 March 2021, Xiao was announced as the main lead Shi Ying in the historical drama The Longest Promise, inspired by the fantasy novel "Mirror: Zhu Yan" (朱颜) by author Cang Yue (沧月). The first trailer was released on 7 June 2021, and the series filming wrapped on 4 August 2021.
On 22 April 2021, he made his theater debut, starring in Yang Hua's version of the critically acclaimed eight-hour drama A Dream Like a Dream (如夢之夢), wherein the first day served as a paid tribute to the volunteers, community workers and medical staff in Wuhan. He played the central character of nameless Patient No. 5, and had since continued to act the role for over three years, touring with the cast in cities such as Qingdao, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing as well as participating for a total of 72 performances until May 2023. The production is listed in the China Performance Industry Association's Performance Market Annual Report for 2021, ranking as No. 1 in the Theater Category for the Highest Average Ticket Sales in a Single Screening and Annual Ticket Sales and Screenings. In a heartwarming gesture to bless Xiao on his first theater play, fans from all over the world flooded the Wuhan QinTai Theatre with flower stands, forming a picturesque "Flower Ocean." Later that evening, in a demonstration of gratitude and generosity, his studio requested the flowers be distributed among the people of Wuhan.
On 26 December 2021, the military drama Ace Troops broadcast exclusively on Jiangsu TV and iQIYI platforms. The drama was well received, and data from CVB, China Audiovisual Big Data, showed an increase in viewership of up to 125% during the drama's airing period for the Jiangsu Television Channel.
On 15 March 2022, he played Gu Wei, a warm and gentle doctor, in the highly anticipated modern romance drama The Oath of Love, which began broadcasting on Hunan Television Primetime, as well as the Tencent Online Platform, and simultaneously on WeTV for international audience. The drama received positive reviews, was a commercial success, and hit 4 billion views on 20 April 2022, in just 37 days of broadcast, and won the "Tencent Business Breakthrough Award," one of the highest platform-level award. The Weibo Character Index for Xiao's portrayal of Gu Wei is breaking a new height at 120. The WeChat Index for Gu Wei hits 164 millions. On 28 September 2022, Xiao was announced as a lead for Sunshine by My Side.
In May 2023, Xiao was confirmed to play the pivotal role of Guo Jing, the lead character in Hong Kong director Tsui Hark's highly anticipated big-budget adaptation of the 1957 seminal wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, written by Jin Yong. On 1 June 2023, The Youth Memories aired on state-run CCTV-8, Tencent Video, Dragon TV, and online platforms. The show has consistently exceeded 2% in real-time TV ratings, has been the top show among shows airing in the same time slot, and was the first show in 2023 to surpass 30,000 heat index on Tencent Video. For his portrayal of Xiao Chunsheng, he received acting awards, namely, Outstanding Actor at the 19th Chinese-American Film and TV Festival Golden Angel Awards and Breakthrough Actor of the Year at the 2nd Chinese TV Drama CMG Annual Ceremony.
On 2 July 2023, The Longest Promise premiered on WeTV. The drama exploded to the top spot on Weibo's hot search upon its release. After the premiere, it hit 21,000 popularity points on Tencent and increased to 26,000 points 3.5 hours later. On 7 July, the drama made its debut on Netflix, five days after being released on WeTV. It has become one of the top five most popular series in Thailand. Since its premiere, it has achieved the highest single-day viewership in multiple countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. After the completion of its exclusive VIP broadcast, the drama comments have surpassed 10 million, setting a record for a character's popularity that surpasses 50 million and acquiring over 100 million interactive bullet screen comments on Tencent Video.
On 1 September 2023, Sunshine by My Side was aired on CCTV-8, IQIYI and Tencent Video. The series set a record for CCTV's highest ratings in the past five years. The drama also topped the Maoyan platform and became the most popular drama at that time, surpassing well-established titles such as Lost You Forever and Glory of Our Fathers. On 30 December 2023, The Legend of Zang Hai, directed by Zheng Xiaolong and starring Xiao as the male lead, was officially launched and a concept poster was released.
2025–present: Critical recognition and expansion in film and television In 2025, Xiao starred in two top-grossing films. The first was Tsui Hark's historical martial arts film Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants, in which he played Guo Jing. It was released on 29 January, Chinese New Year in China, and was internationally distributed by Sony Pictures International Productions, releasing it in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, United States, and Indonesia in February. The second was Gezhi Town, Kong Sheng's war drama film set during the Battle of West Hubei in the Second Sino-Japanese War, which was released in China on 6 December. For his portrayal of Mo Dexian, Xiao won Best Actor of the Golden Petrel Awards at the Asian Art Film Festival and Most Popular Actor of the Year of the Flying Tiger Awards at the Beijing College Student Film Festival.