As a youth player Gong Lei was considered a promising youngster and was part of the Beijing Football Team that won the 1984 Chinese Jia-A League title.
[2] After several seasons with Beijing, Gong then went abroad to Tahiti and joined AS Pirae, where he experienced significant success by winning several league and cup titles with them.
He placed in joint-twenty-second, alongside international stars such as Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Kohler and Tomas Brolin, among others, with five points.
His form with Beijing saw him called up to the Chinese U-20 team squad that took part in the 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship, where China were knocked out in the quarter-finals on 1 September 1985 by the Soviet Union.
[5] Gong became a football commentator and pundit in 2002, providing analysis to CCTV sports channel for La Liga before he gained his first Head coaching position with second tier Chinese club Gansu Tianma F.C.