2021 Chinese Super League


The 2021 Chinese Super League, officially known as the 2021 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 18th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor is Ping An Insurance.
Jiangsu were the defending champions, but they folded on 28 February 2021, and were disqualified by the Chinese Football Association on 29 March 2021.

Club changes

Clubs promoted from 2020 China League One
Dissolved entriesJiangsu
Changchun Yatai returns to the division after a 2-year absence. Cangzhou Mighty Lions were reprieved from relegation after finishing bottom in the previous season due to the dissolution of Jiangsu.

Name changes

In December 2020, the CFA issued a policy to "neutralize" the names of all professional football clubs. Club names cannot contain any term of a sponsorship or commercial nature, and non-Chinese characters cannot be used. Most Chinese football clubs had to be renamed. There were some debates as to whether or not some long-existing club names, for example, "Shandong Taishan" and "Beijing Guoan", were acceptable. After Henan Jianye was renamed to "Henan Luoyang Longmen", club fans protested in front of the club stadium. Some clubs, including the 2020 Chinese Super League winner Jiangsu, China League One team Beijing Chengfeng and China League Two team Yancheng Luzhiying, dissolved subsequent to their renaming.
Current namePrevious nameDate changedRef.
Guangzhou CityGuangzhou R&FDecember 2020
GuangzhouGuangzhou Evergrande TaobaoJanuary 2021
Shandong TaishanShandong Luneng TaishanJanuary 2021
Shanghai PortShanghai SIPGJanuary 2021
Cangzhou Mighty LionsShijiazhuang Ever BrightJanuary 2021
Tianjin Jinmen TigerTianjin TEDAJanuary 2021
QingdaoQingdao HuanghaiFebruary 2021
Shanghai ShenhuaShanghai Greenland ShenhuaFebruary 2021
HebeiHebei China FortuneFebruary 2021
WuhanWuhan ZallFebruary 2021
Henan Songshan LongmenHenan JianyeFebruary 2021
Chongqing Liangjiang AthleticChongqing Dangdai LifanMarch 2021
Beijing GuoanBeijing Sinobo GuoanMarch 2021
JiangsuJiangsu SuningFebruary 2021

Rule changes

The CFA imposed a salary cap on the Super League in December 2020, taking effect with the 2021 season. Each club's total player wages are capped at ¥600 million, with a separate limit of €10 million for foreign players. Individual player salaries are also capped, at ¥5 million before tax for Chinese players, and €3 million for foreign players.

Clubs

Personnel and stadiums

TeamHead coachCityStadiumCapacity2020 season
Guangzhou

Locations


Foreign players

  • Players name in bold indicates the players that were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players name in ITALICS indicates the players that left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
TeamPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Naturalized playersHong Kong/Macau/
Taiwan Players
Former players
Beijing Guoan

Neutral grounds for 2021 season

Guangzhou stadia

Suzhou stadia

Regular season

Group A (Guangzhou stadia)

League table


Group B (Suzhou stadia)

League table


Championship stage

League table


Relegation stage

League table


Relegation play-offs

Overview



Matches

Chengdu Rongcheng won 2–1 on aggregate.
Chengdu Rongcheng were promoted to the Chinese Super League: Dailan Pro were to be directly relegated to the 2022 Chinese League One, but were repreived after Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic and Qingdao both folded.
----
Zhejiang won 1–0 on aggregate.
''Zhejiang were promoted to the Chinese Super League: Qingdao were to be directly relegated to the 2022 Chinese League One, but Qingdao folded.''

Statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1

Top assists

RankPlayerClubAssists
1

Hat-tricks

PlayerClubAgainstResultDateSource

Awards

Players of the Round

The following players were named the Players of the Round.
RoundPlayerClubReference
1