L i Li is the founder and chairman of Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical, a leading global supplier of heparin sodium, a critical blood-thinning drug. A chemist by training, Li started his career in a meat-processing plant in the 1980s, where he gained early exposure to the extraction of raw materials from pig intestines, the primary source of heparin. He later worked at Chongqing Tongda, a heparin producer, before establishing Hepalink in 1998.

Under his leadership, Hepalink became the first Chinese heparin manufacturer to receive FDA approval, allowing it to supply major pharmaceutical firms like Sanofi and Novartis. The company went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. Li runs the company with his wife, Li Tan, who is also an expert in the field and serves as a director.