Chinese Super League · History

The Chinese Super League is the top tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China. It has been governed by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) since its first season in 2004, and since January 2025 it has been run by the Chinese Professional Football League, a company whose preparatory committee was formed on 27 May 2016. It replaced Jia-A, the league with which China introduced professional football in 1994.

Origins and early years

The competition was launched in 2004 as a reform of Jia-A. That first season featured 12 teams, and Shenzhen Jianlibao were champions. The following year the league grew to 14 clubs. In 2008 sixteen teams started, but Wuhan withdrew and the campaign finished with 15. From 2009 the format settled at 16 sides. The early titles were spread around the country: Dalian Shide won in 2005, Shandong Luneng in 2006, Changchun Yatai in 2007, Shandong Luneng again in 2008, Beijing Guoan in 2009 and Shandong once more in 2010. Dalian Shide, champions in the second edition, were wound up on 31 January 2013 after being effectively absorbed by city rivals Dalian Aerbin.

The Guangzhou Evergrande years

Between 2011 and 2017 Guangzhou Evergrande won seven consecutive league titles, a run without equal in the competition. The club had been relegated in February 2010, then known as Guangzhou Yiyao, for match-fixing during the 2006 second-tier season, and won the league at the first attempt on their return in 2011. In the same period they lifted the AFC Champions League in 2013 and 2015, the only two continental titles won by Chinese clubs between the 2002-03 and 2017 editions. Shanghai SIPG ended the streak in 2018, before Guangzhou reclaimed the trophy in 2019 for an eighth league title, the competition record.

The big signings of 2016

The winter of 2016 changed the scale of the market. In February Guangzhou Evergrande signed Colombian striker Jackson Martínez from Atlético Madrid for €42 million, while Jiangsu Suning paid Shakhtar Donetsk €50 million for Brazilian Alex Teixeira. In July Shanghai SIPG brought in Hulk from Zenit, and in December they added Oscar from Chelsea for €60 million. Those deals drew European attention to Chinese football. In December 2020 the CFA answered with a salary cap that took effect in 2021: a wage bill of 600 million yuan per club, €10 million for all foreign players combined, and individual limits of 5 million yuan for Chinese players and €3 million for foreigners, before tax.

Pandemic, neutral names and financial crisis

The 2020 season was postponed by COVID-19 until 25 July and staged in two hubs, Suzhou and Dalian, with the 16 teams split into groups followed by a knockout phase. Jiangsu Suning won it, their first league title. In 2021 the CFA required clubs to remove their owners' corporate brands from their names: Guangzhou Evergrande became Guangzhou FC and Shanghai SIPG became Shanghai Port. The reigning champions, by then called Jiangsu FC, announced on 28 February 2021 that they were ceasing operations, and on 29 March the CFA removed them from professional competition along with five other clubs. Cangzhou Mighty Lions took their place. That year's title went to Shandong Taishan.

From Wuhan to Shanghai

The 2022 edition was contested by 18 teams and won by Wuhan Three Towns, newly promoted from China League One and champions in their first top-flight season. Guangzhou finished 17th and went down. The return to 16 clubs in 2023 opened Shanghai Port's cycle, with titles in 2023 and 2024. On 22 November 2025 they won 1-0 away at Dalian Yingbo to seal a third consecutive championship, the fourth of their history, finishing on 66 points, two ahead of Shanghai Shenhua.