Li was born into the prominent Li family. His grandfather, Li Koon-chun, was the founder of the Bank of East Asia. His father, Li Fook-shu, was the unofficial member of the Executive Council and Legislative Council. His brother, David Li Kwok-po, succeeded his father to become the chairman of the Bank of East Asia and member of the Legislative Council. An alumnus of St. Paul's Co-educational College and a classmate of Professor Lawrence J. Lau, Li received his medical training at the University of Cambridge. He was subsequently trained at Middlesex Hospital Medical School and Harvard Medical School, before returning to Hong Kong to become the founding chairman of the Department of Surgery and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Li's tenure as Secretary for Education and Manpower was marked by an era of education reforms that included the School-Based Management Policy. Since 2000, the Education and Manpower Bureau has implemented a number of mandates, including having teachers spend more time with students outside the classroom, adding exams for subjects such as English and history, and ordering that teachers take benchmark assessments to prove their language abilities. Li ostensibly retired from public service in 2007. In the role, he caused controversy by proposing mergers first between Chinese University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and later between Chinese University and the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Li's appointment by CY Leung to the governing board of the University of Hong Kong in 2015 has been met with strong criticism, particularly from academic staff : a poll has shown most to have little to no confidence that Li will uphold academic freedom. Further, Li's general attitude towards staff has been said to be 'hostile' and 'critical'. Six months later, when it became known that Li was likely to take over the chairmanship of the Council upon the expiry of the term of Edward Leong on 6 November, there was further strong opposition, with 87 percent of members of HKU Academic Staff Association and almost three-quarters of members of the Professional Teachers Union opposed, due to his stance during the University of Hong Kong pro-vice-chancellor selection controversy. In December 2018, Li was reappointed for a second three-year term to the Council. His reappointment elicited criticism from the Hong Kong University Students' Union. Academic Staff Association chairman William Cheung Sing-wai expressed that "there has been a chilling effect" during Li's tenure.
Reputation
His leadership style has seen him being referred to as "King Arthur" or even "the Tsar".
Personal life
He was married to Diana Chester, a registered nurse and graduate of New Hall College, Cambridge University who died in 2013. He has one son.
Appointments
Before his appointment, Li was Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as:
