The outbreak of war in 1914 led France to recruit Chinese workers for factory work and heavy manual labor. The Chinese Labor Corps in France eventually brought more than 130,000 workers, mostly from North China villages. In June 1915, Li and his Paris friends took this opportunity to provide schooling and training. The Work-Study program was renewed, though on a different basis, bringing less educated workers rather than students. By March 1916 their Paris group, the Société Franco-Chinoise d'Education () was directly involved in recruiting and training these workers. The Société had well-placed French backers, mostly on the political left, including Alphonse Aulard, the first president of the Société, a professor of French history at the Sorbonne; Marius Moutet, vice-president and a socialist member of the National Assembly from Lyon; and Édouard Herriot, mayor of Lyon. They pressed the French government to give the Chinese workers technical education as well as factory work. Li wrote extensive articles in the Chinese Labor Journal (Huagong zazhi), which introduced readers to Western science, arts, fiction, and current events.
