The best replacement for xerces is jaxp.

The best alternatives to xerces are rated as following:
★★★★★  jaxp
★★★★★  xalan
★★★★  xercesimpl
★★★★  libxml
★★★  expat
★★  tinyxml
★★  jdom
★★  msxml
★  dom4j
★  crimson
  rapidxml
  libxml2

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Speaking about xerces, one probably shouldn't forget about icu.

Other search terms related to xerces and their ratings are:
★★★★★ icu
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