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 Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

. The league title sponsor is

Ping An Insurance Ping An Insurance known also as Ping An of China (), full name Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. is a Chinese holding conglomerate whose subsidiaries provide insurance, banking, asset management, financial, healthcare services. Th ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

were the defending champions before they ceased operation on 28 February 2021 and were disqualified by the

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the country's ...

on 29 March 2021.

Club changes

Clubs promoted from

2020 China League One The 2020 China League One ( zh, 2020中国足球协会甲级联赛) was the 17th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. The season was scheduled to begin on 29 Febru ...

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

Dissolved entries * Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
(Jiangsu Suning)

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 Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is th ...

" and "

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...

", were acceptable. After

Henan Jianye Henan Songshan Longmen Football Club (), previously known as Henan Jianye Football Club (), is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team ...

was renamed to "

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

Longmen", club fans protested in front of the club stadium. Some clubs, including the

2020 Chinese Super League The 2020 Chinese Super League, officially known as the 2020 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League () for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor is Ping An ...

winner Jiangsu F.C.,

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

team

Beijing Chengfeng Beijing Chengfeng Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Fengtai District, Beijing and their hom ...

and

China League Two The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...

team

Yancheng Luzhiying Yancheng Luzhiying Football Club are a China League Two club. They are an association football club from Yancheng, Jiangsu. The Dafeng Olympic Sports Centre is their home venue. History Jiangsu Yancheng Dingli F.C. was established in January 20 ...

, dissolved subsequent to their renaming.

Rule changes

The CFA imposed a

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

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

Stadiums and locations

Clubs locations

Managerial changes

Neutral grounds for 2021 Chinese Super League

Guangzhou stadia

Tianhe Stadium Tianhe Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It is currently used for football matches. History Construction of the stadium began on 4 July 1984 at the former site of Guangzhou Tianhe Airport. ...

Yuexiushan Stadium The Yuexiushan Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, named for its location at the foot of Yuexiu Hill. It is currently mostly used for football matches and also sometimes for athletics. It is located on 4 Yingyuan ...

Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center Central Stadium The Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center Central Stadium () is a stadium situated in the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. It is used mostly for association football, but also for athletics, rugby un ...

Huadu Stadium Huadu Stadium is a stadium in Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl ...

Suzhou stadia

Kunshan Stadium The Kunshan Sports Centre Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Kunshan, China. It is currently used mostly for soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 playe ...

Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre The Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre () is a sports complex located in the Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu, China. The complex is composed of multiple buildings and stadiums including a stadium, a gymnasium, a natatorium and a business center. The sta ...

Outer Field *

Suzhou Sports Center Suzhou Sports Center () is a multi-use stadium in Suzhou, China. It is currently used mostly for soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primaril ...

Jiangyin Stadium Jiangyin Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Jiangyin, China. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 30,161 spectators. It opened in 2010. It is one of the neutral venues being used for the 2021 Chinese Super Leag ...

Foreign players

*Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window. * For Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwanese players, if they are non-naturalized and were registered as professional footballers in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

's,

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

's, or

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

's football association for the first time, they are recognized as native players. Otherwise they are recognized as foreign players. * Naturalized players whose parents or grandparents were born in Mainland China, thus are regarded as local players.

Regular season

Group A (Guangzhou stadia)

League table

Results

Positions by round

Results by match played

Group B (Suzhou stadia)

League table

Results

Positions by round

Results by match played

Championship stage

League table

Results

Positions by round

Results by match played

Relegation stage

League table

Results

Positions by round

Results by match played

Relegation play-offs

Overview

Matches

''Chengdu Rongcheng won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Zhejiang won 1–0 on aggregate.''

Statistics

Top scorers

Top assists

Hat-tricks

;Notes *(H) – Home team *(A) – Away team

Awards

Players of the Round

The following players were named the Players of the Round.

League attendance

Notes

References

External links

Current CSL table, and recent results/fixtures
at Soccerway {{2021 in Asian football (AFC) Chinese Super League seasons 1

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...