The solution is to add an XML namespace for the xlink prefix.
<svg viewBox="0 0 200 200" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
<symbol id="circ"><circle cx="100" cy="100" r="100"/></symbol>
<use xlink:href="#circ"/>
</svg>
Source: <href> in SVG | Parallel Transport