After he retired Shandong offered him a position as the boss of media presentation, however due to his high-profile within China he was linked to numerous management positions. He would eventually go on to achieve the necessary coaching certificates required for a management position and he was expected to become an assistant within the Chinese Football Association. On 8 August 2010 he would accept the position of interim head coach for the Chinese women's team up to the 2010 Asian Games, which made him the youngest coach to ever manage the team. At the Football at the 2010 Asian Games Li would guide the team to the semi-finals where they lost 1–0 to Japan's women team. This would be good enough for Li to be offered an extension to his contract and Li was given the job to guide the China's women team through the 2012 Summer Olympics qualifiers, however the team failed to make it to the tournament and Li resigned as coach.