Li Zhihai would join second tier club Guangzhou F.C. senior team at the beginning of the 2002 league season and would steadily establish himself as a regular within the squad. Over the following seasons he would become a vital member of the team and was awarded with the club captaincy where he led the team to a division championship and promotion to the Chinese Super League with Guangzhou at the end of the 2007 league season. The following season, he would lead Guangzhou to a 7th-place finish at the end of the 2008 league season despite missing much of the campaign through injury. The next season saw Li Zhihai miss eight games due to suspension after he fought with Tianjin Teda F.C. player Éber Luís Cucchi during a June 25, 2008 league game. After missing much of the 2008 league season through suspension Li Zhihai would once again struggle with injury through much of the 2009 league season and lose the captaincy to Xu Liang. At the end of the season the club would be relegated after it was discovered that the club had fixed a match during the 2007 league campaign, despite this Li Zhihai would stay with the club to help in their push for promotion. 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. Li was promoted to the team captain in this season. 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 Asiain September. Although Li claimed that the charge was without evidence, he was released by Guangdong at the end of the season. In April 2012, after spending a brief time in Macau's Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol club Lam Ieng, Li moved to China League Two club Shenzhen Main on a free transfer. Li returned to Guangdong Sunray Cave who suffered defend crisis in the 2012 league season in June. He was lined up in his first returning match and insured a 2–0 away victory against Beijing Baxy on 23 June. However, he was dropped from the first team again in July after Guangdong lost to Hohhot Dongjin 4–0. Li was signed by Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol club Chao Pak Kei in January 2013. He made his debut for Chao Pak Kei in a 5–0 home defeat against Lam Ieng on 20 January. He returned to Guangdong Sunray Cave again in February. Li retired in the end of 2013 season and became the assistant coach of Guangdong Sunray Cave. He played as an amateur player for Zhaoqing Hengtai RE in his spare time.
