[4] At the start of the 2010 league campaign Guangzhou brought in a new manager in Lee Jang-Soo who decided to bring in several new players, which saw Li Zhihai often sitting on the bench and despite helping the team win promotion back to the top tier at the end of the season was allowed to leave to second-tier football club Guangdong Sunray Cave at the beginning of the 2011 league campaign.

However, he was suspected by the club to involve in match-fixing after his disastrous performance in a league match which Guangdong played against Shanghai East Asia in September.

Li was signed by Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol club Chao Pak Kei in January 2013.

In August 2016, Li was appointed as the manager of Hong Kong Premier League side R&F, which was the satellite team of Guangzhou R&F.

[8] He led the club finished their in 10th place in the 2016–17 Hong Kong Premier League, which secured R&F's stay in the top flight for the next season.