Yan Li was born in Benxi, Liaoning Province, in March 1961. He studied radio technology at the Department of Radio Electronics at the University of Science and Technology of China from 1979 to 1984. After graduation, he worked as a research trainee at the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences until 1987, including a period with the Central Lecturer Group in Shandong. In June 1987, he joined the Chinese Communist Party.[3]
From 1987 to 1995, Yan worked at the 14th Research Institute of the Ministry of Electronics Industry, advancing from assistant engineer to senior engineer. He later became assistant to the director and then deputy director of the institute. In 2000, he was appointed director of the Jiangsu Provincial Information Industry Department and concurrently served as its Party secretary, while also working on secondment at China Three Gorges Corporation.[4]
In November 2004, Yan became deputy Party secretary and acting mayor of Suzhou, before being confirmed as mayor in January 2005. He remained in that position until February 2012, during which time he pursued further studies at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, earning a doctorate in management science and engineering.[5]
In February 2012, Yan was appointed Communist Party Secretary of Changzhou, later also serving as chairman of the Changzhou People’s Congress Standing Committee.[6] In February 2017, he was elected Vice Chairman and member of the Leading Party Members’ Group of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).[7] In January 2018, he was promoted to Vice Chairman and deputy secretary of the Party group of the same committee.[8][9]
Yan was a delegate to the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, a deputy to the 11th National People’s Congress, and a member of the 13th Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He also served as a delegate to the 12th Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress and as a member of the 11th and 12th Jiangsu Provincial Committees of the CPPCC.[10]