Li was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu, in July 1949. He attended the Affiliated School of Pharmacy of Nanjing College of Pharmacy (now China Pharmaceutical University) from 1965 to 1968. Between 1973 and 1977, he studied at the Department of Pharmacy of the same institution. From 1996 to 1998, he pursued an MBA program at Nanjing University and also studied at the Central Party School.[3]
He began working in August 1968 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in July 1978. Li started his career in the local pharmaceutical sector in Zhangjiagang (then Shazhou County), holding posts such as technician, workshop director, and later factory director and Party branch secretary of Wuxian Pharmaceutical Factory (now Suzhou No. 6 Pharmaceutical Factory). He subsequently served as deputy manager of Suzhou Pharmaceutical Company, and later as general manager and deputy Party secretary of Suzhou Pharmaceutical Corporation.[4]
In 1990, Li was appointed deputy director of the Suzhou Economic Commission. He later served as deputy Party secretary of Kunshan, and subsequently as Party secretary of Kunshan and chairman of the municipal People’s Congress. From 1997 to 2000, he worked in Yancheng, first as deputy Party secretary and acting mayor, and then as mayor.[5] In 2000, he was transferred to Changzhou, where he held the posts of deputy Party secretary, acting mayor, mayor, and eventually Party secretary.[6]
In 2003, Li was appointed Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province, a position he held until early 2008. He was then elected Vice Chairman and Deputy Party Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress, serving until 2012.[7]
Li was a delegate to the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, a deputy to the 9th National People's Congress, a member of the 10th Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, and a deputy to both the 9th and 10th Jiangsu Provincial People's Congresses.[8]