His second quarter-final appearance of the season came at the German Masters but he lost 5–2 to Ryan Day. Xiao's rise up the world rankings meant he only needed to win one match to reach the World Championship and he did so in emphatic fashion by thrashing Li Yan 10–1. In Xiao's debut in the event he rallied from 4–1 down against Ali Carter to end the first session 5–4 behind, but went on to lose 10–8. Xiao's rise up the rankings continued as he ended the campaign as the world number 23, an increase of 14 spots from the start of the season.