He studied under Alfred Wittenberg and Tatiana Kravchenko, and as a young pianist in the late 1950s and early 1960s won awards at several Eastern European music competitions: the Smetana Competition in Prague in 1957 (3rd prize), the George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest in 1958 (1st prize), the VI International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1960 (4th prize).
His recordings comprise pieces by the classics and romantics, as well as piano music by Chinese composers.
He served as a juror at many international piano competitions, among others those of Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition,[1] Van Cliburn in Fort Worth, Enescu in Bucharest, Chopin in Warsaw, as well as in Sydney, Shanghai, Paris and Montreal.
In 1989 he relocated temporarily to the USA, where he held master classes at several music centers.
Despite his relatively short performing-career, Li Ming-Qiang is ranked among the influential contemporary classical pianists (recorded).