Li started his professional football career in 2011 when he was loaned to Shanghai Zobon's squad for the 2011 China League Two campaign.
[2] He made his Super League debut for Shanghai on 20 September 2013 in a game against Shandong Luneng, coming on as a substitute for Zhu Zhengrong in the 83rd minute.
[3] Li was demoted to the reserve squad in the 2016 season.
On 8 August 2016, he received a ban of six months by Chinese Football Association for age falsification which he changed his age from 30 July 1992 to 27 January 1993.
[6] On 9 July 2017, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 away defeat against Changchun Yatai.