Li Leilei started his career with second tier club Bayi Football Team in the 1999 Chinese league season and would go on to become their first choice goalkeeper.

[1] This saw Li Leilei join another top tier club in Shenzhen Jianlibao where he was immediately made the club's first choice goalkeeper by the team's Head coach Zhu Guanghu and had an extremely successful debut season with them by winning the 2004 Chinese Super League.

[4] By the end of the 2009 league season the Shandong Head coach Ljubiša Tumbaković had left the club after a disappointing season and was replaced by Branko Ivanković who decided to promote the youngster Yang Cheng as first choice goalkeeper, which saw Li Leilei limited to a single appearance throughout the 2010 campaigned as he watched Shandong win another league title.

At the end of the 2011 league season he did not make a single appearance for Shandong and with his contract having finished Li Leilei retired from football.

[5] Li Leilei was given the chance to make his senior debut on May 29, 2005, against Republic of Ireland by the recently appointed Chinese Head coach Zhu Guanghu in a match China lost 1–0.