[citation needed] In July 1989, after completing graduate studies, he became an engineer at the National Nuclear Safety Administration's Beijing office.

[citation needed] In January 1999, Li began working at the office of the Chinese Ambassador to France, specializing in technology affairs.

[3] He visited Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan in October 2017, where he said efforts to increase air quality faced "huge difficulties".

[5] In a conference in October 2018, Li warned against using "simple and crude" methods to fight pollution that damaged businesses, such as blanket ban on factory operations.

[6] In January 2019, he warned some local regions lost "momentum" in fighting against pollution, especially rural areas and poorer industrial towns.