Prof. XUE  established the Laboratory of Solid Lubrication in Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics and served as Head of this Laboratory until 1999 when he was appointed Director of Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics developing tribomaterials to meet urgent needs in marine industries in China.

Under his leadership, the Laboratory became the State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication of Chinese Academy of Sciences. It has grown to be the largest group in tribology research in China and acknowledged to be one of the most successful ones, the results of the research carried out at Lanzhou under his leadership having made valuable contributions to the economic growth of China.