In 2014, Lei won the 4th China Women Masters Tournament in Wuxi on tie-break from Ju Wenjun[5] and was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) by FIDE.

[6] Lei competed in the Women's World Chess Championship 2015, where she was knocked out in the second round by top seed Humpy Koneru.

In December 2015, Lei tied for 1st–5th with Alexander Zubarev, Olexandr Bortnyk, Jure Škoberne, and Maximilian Neef in the 32nd Böblingen International Open scoring 7/9 points.

[7] In 2016, she played on the gold medal-winning Chinese team in the women's event of the Asian Nations Cup in Dubai.

In July 2023, Lei challenged reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun for the title, but lost the match after a loss in game 12.