Li Shijie graduated from the Baoding Military Academy in September 1918 and was assigned to serve with the Shanxi Army.[3] During the 1920s, he held a series of staff and command positions in units led by Fu Zuoyi, including company commander, regimental adjutant, battalion commander, and regimental commander. He took part in the Northern Expedition and later served in the Jin–Sui Army, participating in the Central Plains War of 1930. After the reorganization of his forces, he became chief of staff of the 147th Brigade of the 73rd Division and subsequently served as deputy brigade commander and brigade commander.[4]
In April 1935, Li was promoted to the rank of major general. The following year, he was appointed chief of staff of the 72nd Division of the Third Column of the Taiyuan Pacification Headquarters under Yan Xishan. After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he served in the Second and Eighth War Zones in senior staff and training roles, participating in operations such as the Defense of Taiyuan, the Battle of Pingxingguan, and subsequent campaigns in northern China. He later graduated from the special class of the Army War College in 1938 and remained there as a tactics instructor.[1]
From 1940 onward, Li acted as chief of staff of the 35th Army in the Eighth War Zone and became a key aide to Fu Zuoyi in military planning and command.[5] In 1945, he was appointed chief of staff of the Twelfth War Zone and assisted in handling the surrender of Japanese forces in Rehe, Suiyuan, and Chahar provinces.[6] He was awarded the Order of Loyal Service in 1945 and the Victory Medal in 1946. Between 1946 and 1949, he concurrently served as a member of the Chahar Provincial Government and as chief of staff of the Zhangyuan–Suiyuan Pacification Headquarters. In August 1948, he became chief of staff of the North China “Bandit Suppression” Headquarters.[7][8]
In January 1949, Li participated in the peaceful liberation of Beiping alongside Fu Zuoyi.[9] After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, he held a number of posts in Suiyuan and Inner Mongolia, including member of the Suiyuan Provincial People’s Government, head of the provincial administrative cadres school, deputy director of the provincial cultural and education commission, and Director of the Department of Justice of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.[10] From 1959 until his death in 1979, he served as Vice Chairperson of the Second, Third, and Fourth Committees of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and from 1959 he was also a member of the Third and Fourth National Committees of the CPPCC.[11]