Along with fellow agents Qian Zhuangfei and Hu Di, Zhou often referred to Li as one of "the three most distinguished intelligence workers of the Party".

[4] On April 25, 1931, Qian Zhuangfei, another one of Zhou's agents planted in the Nationalist intelligence agency headquartered at Nanjing, who was directly under Li's control, saw the message from Wuhan announcing Gu's capture.

Li and Chen informed Zhou Enlai, who arranged an emergency evacuation of as many CCP members as possible from their hiding places in Shanghai.

Upon arrival in Shaanxi at the end of the Long March, Li became the chief of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party.

[2] Upon the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Li was appointed head of the Eighth Route Army offices in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guilin.

After the relationship between the CCP and KMT worsened following the 1941 New Fourth Army Incident, Communist delegations in Nationalist controlled regions were ordered to return to Yan'an.

After his successful return to Yan'an, Li became the deputy director of the CCP Central Department of Social Affairs, under Kang Sheng.

One of the primary tasks of Li and his fellow intelligence officers was to do business with local warlords, so that the supplies needed in Communist rear areas, especially medicine, could be obtained.

[2] In 1945, Li was placed in charge of the CCP delegation office in Beiping (later known as Beijing), and was concurrently appointed head of the Central Military Commission Intelligence Department and deputy director of the SAD, under Kang Sheng.

During the Chinese Civil War, Li Kenong continued to personally take charge of decoding intelligence.

Agents under Li's direction achieved great success with planting moles inside the numerous KMT forces and agencies.

In July 1951, Li represented the People's Republic of China at the Panmunjom Peace Talks in Korea as the leader of the joint PRC-North Korean delegation.