Graduated from Beijing Dance Academy in 2002 majoring in ballet, Li Nan joined the National Ballet of China in the same year. He has danced the major roles in many repertoires of the Company including Raise the Red Lantern, La Corsaire, Carmen, Sylvia, The Red Detachment of Women, Giselle, The New-Year Sacrifice, Romeo and Juliet, as well as other ballet works like The Yellow River, Étude, The Peony Pavilion, Four Seasons, The Rite of Spring, Theme and Variations, Variations for Four, The Nutcracker (Chinese Version), The Butterfly Lovers, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3, Symphony No.7, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Onegin, The Little Mermaid, Song of the Earth, L'Arlesienne, The Light of Heart, The Crane Calling, Five Poems, The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Hamlet, etc. And he has participated in several performances in "The Journey into the World Of Ballet" in the activity named "High Arts into Campus".

He has toured with the Company in Hong Kong and Macau as well as many countries all around the world, such as UK, France, Italy, USA, Brazil, Japan, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, Mexico, North Korea, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Russia, Canada and Greece.

In 2019, he became a teacher of The School of NBC. He has studied the Teaching Method of Vakonova Dance School in St Petersburg, Russia and successfully passed the final examination with the teaching certificate.