Li Jianbin started his football career playing for Qingdao Beilaite's youth academy in 2001 and showed great athleticism that would attract the interests of second tier side Shanghai Stars in 2006.
On his return from his loan period, Chengdu had become a top tier side and Li would go on to make his debut for the club on 5 July 2009 in a league game against Shandong Luneng which ended in a 2-1 win.
On 4 December 2014, Li joined fellow Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua on a permanent transfer after failing to cement a starting role at Guangzhou Evergrande.
[11] The following season Li was moved to the reserve team and he was allowed to leave for second tier club Chengdu Rongcheng, where he made his debut in a league game on 11 August 2021 against Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard in a 6-0 victory.
Several months later after an impressive league season where Li established himself and won promotion with Chengdu Blades, he would soon be called up to the Chinese national team preliminary squad in preparation for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.