  The newly observed $X(2100)$ by the BESIII Collaboration inspires our
interest in studying the light meson system, especially axial-vector mesons.
Since the $X(2100)$ has $J^P=1^+$ possibilities but cannot be distinguished
only by mass, we make use of flux-tube model to study the strong decay behavior
of $X(2100)$ under this assignment. The experimental width of the newly
reported $X(2100)$ can be reproduced in our calculation, which favors an
assignment of $X(2100)$ as the second radial excitation of $h_1(1380)$ with
$I(J^P)=0(1^+)$. And the $\mathcal{B}(X(2100)\to \phi \eta^\prime)$ has a
sizable contribution to the total width. Furthermore, we focus on the
production of $X(2100)$ and its flavour partner $h_1(1965)$ induced by pion and
kaon on a proton target with the Feynman model and the Regge model, which is an
available platform to further identify their nature. The numerical results
indicate that the total cross section are similar in the two models. When the
range of momentum ${\mathrm{p_{Lab}}}$ is 10 to 30 GeV/$c$, the total cross
sections for $\pi^-p\to X(2100)n$ and $K^-p\to X(2100)\Lambda$ are predicted to
be at an order of magnitude of 0.1 $\mu$b. Whereas, the total cross section for
$\pi^-p\to h_1(1965)n$ is near an order of magnitude of 10 $\mu$b when
$p_{\mathrm{Lab}}$ is from 10 to 30 GeV/$c$, and much larger than that of
reaction $K^-p\to h_1(1965)\Lambda$. These predictions can provide some
valuable information to search for $X(2100)$ and $h_1(1965)$ in experiments at
J-PARC, COMPASS, OKA@U-70 and SPS@CERN.
