The 2011/12 World Cup season has been a breakout year for Mengtao Xu. While she has shown steady improvement over the last several years, moving up in overall rankings from 4th in 2009, to 3rd in 2010, to 2nd in 2011, in 2012 the young lady from China has dominated the women's aerial competitions, winning five in a row leading up to the Beida Lake event in her native country.

At the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Xu appeared to be on her way to capturing gold before falling on a jump and being forced to settle for 6th.

At the 2011 World Championships in Deer Valley, Utah, Xu claimed the silver medal behind countrywoman Shuang Cheng.