His research focuses on China’s animal welfare policies and the country’s animal protection movement at a time of rapid social transformation. Li has published articles on China’s wildlife law enforcement, culture, and human-animal relations, factory farming, and animal welfare, wildlife farming, and cruelty, among other topics. He also writes for Hong Kong and Beijing’s English-language newspapers on current events. In commentaries published in 2015, Li called on the Chinese authorities to outlaw domestic ivory sales, to re-invent a wildlife protection law for safeguarding the common interest of humanity, and to start anti-cruelty legislation. Li is a consultant for Humane Society International on issues and collaborative programs with China.