2021 Chinese Super League

The 2021 Chinese Super League, officially known as the 2021 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League (Chinese: 2021中国平安中国足球协会超级联赛) for sponsorship reasons, was the 18th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor is Ping An Insurance.^[1][2]

Chinese Super League

Season	2021
Dates	20 April – 15 August (Regular season) 12 December 2021 – 4 January 2022 (Championship and Relegation stage) 7–12 January 2022 (Promotion–relegation play-off)
Champions	Shandong Taishan 4th CSL title 5th Chinese title
AFC Champions League	Shandong Taishan Shanghai Port Guangzhou Changchun Yatai
Matches played	176
Goals scored	447 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Júnior Negrão (14 goals)
Biggest home win	Guangzhou 5–0 Qingdao (11 August 2021) Shanghai Port 5–0 Tianjin Jinmen Tiger (15 August 2021) Guangzhou City 5–0 Beijing Guoan (19 December 2021)
Biggest away win	Qingdao 0–6 Guangzhou (21 July 2021)
Highest scoring	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger 1–6 Shanghai Port (22 April 2021) Guangzhou 5–2 Cangzhou Mighty Lions (2 August 2021) Qingdao 2–5 Wuhan (15 December 2021)
Longest winning run	10 matches Shandong Taishan
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches Shandong Taishan
Longest winless run	12 matches Wuhan
Longest losing run	11 matches Qingdao
Highest attendance	28,252 Guangzhou 2–0 Shenzhen (2 May 2021)
Lowest attendance	335 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 0–0 Henan Songshan Longmen (27 April 2021)
Total attendance	111,732
Average attendance	4,656
← 2020 2022 →

Jiangsu were the defending champions before they ceased operation on 28 February 2021 and were disqualified by the Chinese Football Association on 29 March 2021.^[3]

Club changes

Clubs promoted from 2020 China League One

• Changchun Yatai

Dissolved entries

• Jiangsu (Jiangsu Suning)^[3]

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.^[4] Club names cannot contain any term of a sponsorship or commercial nature, and non-Chinese characters cannot be used.^[5][6] 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.^[7]

Current name	Previous name	Date changed	Ref.
Guangzhou City	Guangzhou R&F	December 2020	[8]
Guangzhou	Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao	January 2021	[9]
Shandong Taishan	Shandong Luneng Taishan	January 2021	[10]
Shanghai Port	Shanghai SIPG	January 2021	[11]
Cangzhou Mighty Lions[a]	Shijiazhuang Ever Bright	January 2021	[12]
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	Tianjin TEDA	January 2021	[13]
Qingdao	Qingdao Huanghai	February 2021	[14]
Shanghai Shenhua	Shanghai Greenland Shenhua	February 2021	[15]
Hebei	Hebei China Fortune	February 2021	[16]
Wuhan	Wuhan Zall	February 2021	[17]
Henan Songshan Longmen	Henan Jianye	February 2021	[18]
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	Chongqing Dangdai Lifan	March 2021	[19]
Beijing Guoan	Beijing Sinobo Guoan	March 2021	[20]
Jiangsu	Jiangsu Suning	February 2021[b]	[22]

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.^[23]

Clubs

Personnel and stadiums

Team[3]	Head coach	City	Stadium	Capacity	2020 season
Guangzhou	Zheng Zhi (player/manager)	Guangzhou	Tianhe Stadium	54,856	2nd
Beijing Guoan	Slaven Bilić	Beijing	Workers' Stadium	66,161	3rd
Shanghai Port	Ivan Leko	Shanghai	Yuanshen Sports Centre Stadium	16,000	4th
Shandong Taishan	Hao Wei	Jinan	Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium	56,808	5th
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	Chang Woe-ryong	Chongqing	Chongqing Olympic Sports Center	58,680	6th
Shanghai Shenhua	Mao Yijun (caretaker)	Shanghai	Hongkou Football Stadium	33,060	7th
Hebei	Kim Jong-boo	Langfang	Langfang Stadium	30,040	8th
Henan Songshan Longmen	Antonio Gómez-Carreño Escalona (caretaker)	Zhengzhou	Hanghai Stadium	29,860	9th
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	Yu Genwei	Tianjin	Tianjin Olympic Centre	54,696	10th
Guangzhou City	Jean-Paul van Gastel	Guangzhou	Yuexiushan Stadium	18,000	11th
Dalian Pro	José González	Dalian	Dalian Sports Centre Stadium	60,832	12th
Shenzhen	Zhang Xiaorui (caretaker)	Shenzhen	Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre	60,334	13th
Qingdao	Yang Weijian (caretaker)	Qingdao	Conson Stadium	45,000	14th
Wuhan	Li Jinyu	Wuhan	Wuhan Five Rings Sports Center	30,000	15th (Relegation play-offs winner)
Changchun Yatai	Chen Yang	Changchun	Changchun Stadium	41,638	CL1, 1st
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	Svetozar Šapurić	Cangzhou	Cangzhou Stadium	31,836	16th

Locations

Beijing Guoan

Cangzhou Mighty Lions

Changchun Yatai

Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic

Dalian Pro

Guangzhou
Guangzhou City

Hebei

Henan Songshan Longmen

Qingdao

Shandong Taishan

Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Port

Shenzhen

Tianjin Jinmen Tiger

Wuhan

Location of teams in 2021 Chinese Super League

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Guangzhou City	Giovanni van Bronckhorst	Mutual consent	3 December 2020[24]	Pre-season	Jean-Paul van Gastel	22 February 2021[25]
Wuhan	Pang Li (caretaker)	End of caretaker spell	27 December 2020		Li Xiaopeng	27 December 2020[26]
Shanghai Port	Vítor Pereira	Mutual consent	31 December 2020[27]		Ivan Leko	1 January 2021[28]
Beijing Guoan	Bruno Génésio		6 January 2021[29]		Slaven Bilić	6 January 2021[30]
Dalian Pro	Rafael Benítez		23 January 2021[31]		José González	18 April 2021[32]
Hebei	Xie Feng		28 March 2021		Kim Jong-boo	28 March 2021[33]
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	Wang Baoshan		31 March 2021		Yu Genwei	31 March 2021
Shenzhen	Jordi Cruyff	Signed by Barcelona	3 June 2021[34]	7th	José Carlos Granero	3 June 2021[35]
Shanghai Shenhua	Choi Kang-hee	Resigned	7 August 2021	9th	Mao Yijun (caretaker)	7 August 2021[36]
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	Afshin Ghotbi	Mutual consent	6 September 2021	13th	Liu Yan (caretaker)	6 September 2021[37]
Guangzhou	Fabio Cannavaro		28 September 2021[38]	2nd	Zheng Zhi (player/manager)	7 December 2021[39]
Henan Songshan Longmen	Javier Pereira		7 October 2021	10th	Antonio Gómez-Carreño Escalona (caretaker)	7 October 2021[40]
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	Liu Yan (caretaker)	End of caretaker spell	5 November 2021	13th	Svetozar Šapurić	5 November 2021[41]
Wuhan	Li Xiaopeng	Signed by China	3 December 2021[42]	11th	Li Jinyu	4 December 2021[43]
Qingdao	Wu Jingui	Resigned	13 December 2021	16th	Yang Weijian (caretaker)	13 December 2021[44]
Shenzhen	José Carlos Granero	End of contract	31 December 2021	5th	Zhang Xiaorui (caretaker)	31 December 2021[45]

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.

Team	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Naturalized players	Hong Kong/Macau/ Taiwan Players1	Former players
Beijing Guoan	Anderson Silva					→ Nico Yennaris2 → John Hou Sæter2		Fernando Lucas Souza Renato Augusto Cédric Bakambu Kim Min-jae Jonathan Viera
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	Oscar Maritu	André Senghor	Stoppila Sunzu					Muriqui Adama Diomande Odil Ahmedov
Changchun Yatai	Erik	Júnior Negrão	Serginho	Jores Okore			Chen Po-liang	Lucas Souza Richairo Živković Aaron Samuel Olanare
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	Fernandinho	Miller Bolaños	Dostonbek Tursunov					Marcelo Cirino Marcinho
Dalian Pro	Emmanuel Boateng	Marcus Danielson	Sam Larsson					Jailson Salomón Rondón
Guangzhou						→ Tyias Browning2		→ Alan → Aloísio → Elkeson Fernandinho Paulinho Ricardo Goulart Talisca
Guangzhou City	Mousa Dembélé	Guilherme	Tiago Leonço	Jown Cardona			Tan Chun Lok	Gustav Svensson
Hebei	Samir Memišević	Leonardo	Ole Selnæs	João Silva				Marcão Paulinho → Chen Jiayu2
Henan Songshan Longmen	Toni Šunjić	Fernando Karanga	Henrique Dourado	Ivo	Mohamed Buya Turay		Tim Chow
Qingdao	Dejan Radonjić	Romain Alessandrini	Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu	Jagoš Vuković				Fredrik Ulvestad Denis Popović
Shandong Taishan	Marouane Fellaini	Jadson	Moisés	Son Jun-ho		→ Pedro Delgado		Leonardo Róger Guedes
Shanghai Port	Aaron Mooy	Oscar	Paulinho	Ricardo Lopes	Ante Majstorović			Marko Arnautović
Shanghai Shenhua	Christian Bassogog	Giovanni Moreno	Matej Jonjić	Lonsana Doumbouya	Adrian Mierzejewski	→ Alexander N'Doumbou2 → Denny Wang2		Kim Shin-wook
Shenzhen	Alan Kardec	Juan Fernando Quintero	Frank Acheampong	Mubarak Wakaso	Morteza Pouraliganji		Dai Wai Tsun
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	Magno Cruz	Jules Iloki	Tamás Kádár	Marko Vejinović
Wuhan	Anderson Lopes	Rafael Silva						Léo Baptistão Stéphane Mbia Jean Evrard Kouassi Yoann Arquin Daniel Carriço

• ^1 For Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwanese players, if they are non-naturalized and were registered as professional footballers in Hong Kong's, Macau's, or Chinese Taipei's football association for the first time, they are recognized as native players. Otherwise they are recognized as foreign players.
• ^2 Naturalized players whose parents or grandparents were born in Mainland China, thus are regarded as local players.

Neutral grounds for 2021 season

Guangzhou stadia

• Tianhe Stadium
• Yuexiushan Stadium
• Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center Central Stadium
• Huadu Stadium

Suzhou stadia

• Kunshan Sports Centre Stadium
• Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre
• Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre Outer Field
• Suzhou Sports Center
• Jiangyin Sports Centre

Regular season

Group A (Guangzhou stadia)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Shandong Taishan	14	10	3	1	30	10	+20	33	Qualification for Championship stage
2	Guangzhou	14	9	3	2	39	14	+25	30
3	Shenzhen	14	7	3	4	24	18	+6	24
4	Guangzhou City	14	5	6	3	21	21	0	21
5	Henan Songshan Longmen	14	4	6	4	13	14	−1	18	Qualification for Relegation stage
6	Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	14	3	2	9	16	28	−12	11
7	Cangzhou Mighty Lions	14	2	4	8	13	23	−10	10
8	Qingdao	14	2	1	11	6	34	−28	7

Source: CSL, Soccerway
Rules for classification:

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.

Results

Home \ Away	CZL	CQL	GZH	GZC	HSL	QDA	SDT	SZH
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	—	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–0	2–0	0–2	2–1
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	2–2	—	1–5	4–0	3–2	1–0	0–2	0–3
Guangzhou	5–2	3–1	—	2–2	2–0	5–0	2–1	2–0
Guangzhou City	0–0	3–1	3–3	—	1–1	4–2	1–3	2–4
Henan Songshan Longmen	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	1–2
Qingdao	2–1	1–0	0–6	0–1	0–1	—	0–5	1–4
Shandong Taishan	2–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	2–0	—	4–2
Shenzhen	2–1	2–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	—

Source: CSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Shandong Taishan	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1
Guangzhou	4	5	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	3	2	2	2	2
Shenzhen	2	3	5	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	3	3
Guangzhou City	4	2	1	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4
Henan Songshan Longmen	6	6	7	7	7	6	5	5	4	5	5	5	5	5
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	8	8	8	6	6	7	7	8	6	6	6	6	6	6
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	7	8	7	7	7	7	7
Qingdao	2	3	4	5	5	5	6	6	7	8	8	8	8	8

	Qualification to Championship stage
	Qualification to Relegation stage

Source: CSL, Soccerway

Results by match played

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	L	D	D	L	D	L	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	L
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	L	L	D	W	L	L	L	L	W	D	L	W	L	L
Guangzhou	D	L	W	W	D	W	W	D	W	L	W	W	W	W
Guangzhou City	D	W	W	L	D	D	D	D	L	W	W	W	L	D
Henan Songshan Longmen	L	D	D	L	D	W	D	D	W	L	W	L	W	D
Qingdao	W	D	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L
Shandong Taishan	W	W	D	W	D	D	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W
Shenzhen	W	D	L	W	D	W	W	D	W	W	L	L	L	W

Source: CSL, Soccerway
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Group B (Suzhou stadia)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Changchun Yatai	14	8	4	2	23	11	+12	28[c]	Qualification for Championship stage
2	Shanghai Port	14	8	4	2	30	7	+23	28[c]
3	Beijing Guoan	14	7	3	4	19	16	+3	24
4	Hebei	14	6	5	3	12	11	+1	23
5	Shanghai Shenhua	14	6	4	4	21	17	+4	22	Qualification for Relegation stage
6	Wuhan	14	1	8	5	11	19	−8	11
7	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	14	2	3	9	11	29	−18	9
8	Dalian Pro	14	2	1	11	12	29	−17	7

Source: CSL, Soccerway
Rules for classification:

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  Notes:

1. moved from Shijiazhuang to Cangzhou.
2. Club dissolved four weeks later on 28 February 2021.^[21]
3. Head-to-head results: Changchun Yatai 2–1 Shanghai Port, Shanghai Port 0–0 Changchun Yatai.

Results

Home \ Away	BJG	CCY	DLP	HEB	SHP	SHS	TJT	WUH
Beijing Guoan	—	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	4–2	0–0	2–1
Changchun Yatai	2–0	—	3–1	3–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0
Dalian Pro	0–1	1–2	—	0–1	0–5	2–4	1–0	1–1
Hebei	0–0	2–1	1–0	—	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1
Shanghai Port	3–1	0–0	3–0	1–0	—	1–0	5–0	3–0
Shanghai Shenhua	2–1	1–2	3–2	0–0	1–1	—	1–0	0–0
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	3–1	1–4	1–3	0–1	1–6	1–3	—	2–1
Wuhan	0–2	2–2	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–3	1–1	—

Source: CSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Changchun Yatai	2	3	4	5	3	5	3	2	3	2	2	2	2	1
Shanghai Port	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Beijing Guoan	6	8	5	4	2	4	5	5	5	4	4	5	5	3
Hebei	4	3	3	3	5	3	4	4	2	3	3	4	4	4
Shanghai Shenhua	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	3	4	5	5	3	3	5
Wuhan	4	5	6	7	8	7	7	6	6	7	6	7	6	6
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	8	6	7	8	6	6	6	7	7	8	8	6	7	7
Dalian Pro	6	7	8	6	7	8	8	8	8	6	7	8	8	8

	Qualification to Championship stage
	Qualification to Relegation stage

Source: CSL, Soccerway

Results by match played

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Beijing Guoan	L	L	W	W	W	D	L	W	D	W	W	D	L	W
Changchun Yatai	W	D	D	D	W	L	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	L
Dalian Pro	L	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	L	L	L
Hebei	D	W	W	D	L	W	L	D	W	W	D	D	L	W
Shanghai Port	W	W	D	D	W	D	W	W	D	W	L	W	W	L
Shanghai Shenhua	W	W	D	D	L	W	W	L	D	L	D	L	W	W
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	L	D	L	L	W	D	L	L	L	L	L	D	W	L
Wuhan	D	L	D	L	L	D	D	D	D	D	L	D	L	W

Source: CSL, Soccerway
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Championship stage

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Shandong Taishan (C)	22	15	6	1	47	16	+31	51	Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
2	Shanghai Port	22	13	6	3	42	14	+28	45
3	Guangzhou	22	13	5	4	47	17	+30	44
4	Changchun Yatai	22	11	6	5	31	20	+11	39
5	Beijing Guoan	22	9	6	7	26	28	−2	33
6	Shenzhen	22	9	5	8	33	29	+4	32
7	Guangzhou City	22	7	8	7	32	31	+1	29
8	Hebei	22	6	7	9	15	28	−13	25

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification:

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	BJG	CCY	GZH	GZC	HEB	SDT	SHP	SZH
Beijing Guoan			1–0	1–1		1–1		2–2
Changchun Yatai			0–2	2–1		1–1		1–1
Guangzhou	1–0	2–0			1–1		0–0
Guangzhou City	5–0	0–2			2–1		1–2
Hebei			0–2	1–1		0–5		0–1
Shandong Taishan	2–1	2–1			2–0		2–2
Shanghai Port			1–0	1–0		0–2		3–1
Shenzhen	0–1	0–1			3–0		1–3

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Shandong Taishan	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Shanghai Port	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	2
Guangzhou	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	3
Changchun Yatai	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4
Beijing Guoan	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	5
Shenzhen	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	6
Guangzhou City	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7
Hebei	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8

	Leader and qualification to AFC Champions League group stage
	Qualification to AFC Champions League Group stage
	Qualification to AFC Champions League play-off round

Source: Soccerway

Results by match played

Team ╲ Round	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Beijing Guoan	W	L	L	D	L	D	D	W
Changchun Yatai	W	D	L	L	W	W	L	D
Guangzhou	L	D	W	D	W	W	W	L
Guangzhou City	L	L	W	D	L	L	D	W
Hebei	L	D	L	D	L	L	L	L
Shandong Taishan	W	W	W	W	W	D	D	D
Shanghai Port	W	W	L	D	W	W	D	W
Shenzhen	L	D	W	D	L	L	W	L

Source: Soccerway
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Relegation stage

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
9	Shanghai Shenhua	22	10	7	5	34	22	+12	37
10	Henan Songshan Longmen	22	7	9	6	19	20	−1	30
11	Cangzhou Mighty Lions	22	6	6	10	25	32	−7	24
12	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	22	5	6	11	18	35	−17	21
13	Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic (R, D)	22	5	5	12	21	36	−15	20[a]	Dissolved after season
14	Wuhan	22	3	11	8	23	30	−7	20[a]
15	Dalian Pro (T)	22	6	1	15	21	37	−16	19	Qualification for relegation play-offs
16	Qingdao (D, R)	22	3	2	17	13	52	−39	11	Dissolved after season

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification:

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated; (T) Qualified, but not yet for the particular phase indicated
  Notes:

1. Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic finished ahead of Wuhan on head-to-head points: Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic 0–0 Wuhan, Wuhan 1–2 Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic.

Results

Home \ Away	CZL	CQL	DLP	HSL	QDA	SHS	TJT	WUH
Cangzhou Mighty Lions			2–0			1–1	2–1	2–0
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic			0–1			0–0	0–1	0–0
Dalian Pro	1–2	0–1		1–0	4–1
Henan Songshan Longmen			1–0			2–0	1–1	1–0
Qingdao			1–2			0–1	0–1	2–5
Shanghai Shenhua	1–1	4–1		3–0	3–0
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	1–0	1–1		0–0	1–2
Wuhan	4–2	1–2		1–1	1–1

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Shanghai Shenhua	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Henan Songshan Longmen	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	13	14	12	12	11	11	11	11
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	15	15	15	15	14	15	13	12
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	12	13	14	14	15	13	14	13
Wuhan	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	14
Dalian Pro	14	12	13	13	13	14	15	15
Qingdao	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

	Qualification for relegation play-offs

Source: Soccerway

Results by match played

Team ╲ Round	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Cangzhou Mighty Lions	L	D	W	W	W	D	W	L
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic	D	L	L	D	L	W	D	W
Dalian Pro	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	W
Henan Songshan Longmen	L	D	D	W	W	D	W	L
Qingdao	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	L
Shanghai Shenhua	W	D	W	L	W	D	D	W
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	D	D	L	L	W	D	W	W
Wuhan	W	W	D	D	L	D	L	L

Source: Soccerway
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Relegation play-offs

Overview

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Chengdu Rongcheng	2–1	Dalian Pro	1–1	1–0
Qingdao	0–1	Zhejiang	0–1	0–0

Matches

8 January 2022 (2022-01-08)

15:30 UTC+8

Chengdu Rongcheng	1–1	Dalian Pro
Felipe 81' (pen.)	Report	Sun Guowen 42'

Jiangyin Stadium, Suzhou

Attendance: 0^{[note 1]}

Referee: Li Haixin

12 January 2022 (2022-01-12)

15:30 UTC+8

Dalian Pro	0–1	Chengdu Rongcheng
	Report	Rômulo 72'

Jiangyin Stadium, Suzhou

Attendance: 0^{[note 1]}

Referee: Wang Zhe

Chengdu Rongcheng won 2–1 on aggregate.

---

8 January 2022 (2022-01-08)

15:30 UTC+8

Qingdao	0–1	Zhejiang
	Report	Andrijašević 30'

Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Suzhou

Attendance: 0^{[note 1]}

Referee: Ma Li

12 January 2022 (2022-01-12)

15:30 UTC+8

Zhejiang	0–0	Qingdao
	Report

Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Suzhou

Attendance: 0^{[note 1]}

Referee: Shi Zhenlu

Zhejiang won 1–0 on aggregate.

Statistics

Top scorers

As of 4 January 2022

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[46]
1	Júnior Negrão	Changchun Yatai	14
2	Alan Kardec	Shenzhen	11
	Elkeson	Guangzhou
4	Marouane Fellaini	Shandong Taishan	10
	Guo Tianyu
	Zhang Yuning	Beijing Guoan
7	Henrique Dourado	Henan Songshan Longmen	8
8	Anderson Lopes	Wuhan	7
	Erik	Changchun Yatai
	Ricardo Goulart	Guangzhou
	Tiago Leonço	Guangzhou City
	Lü Wenjun	Shanghai Port
	Jown Cardona	Guangzhou City
	Oscar Maritu	Cangzhou Mighty Lions

Top assists

As of 4 January 2022

Rank	Player	Club	Assists[46]
1	Oscar	Shanghai Port	11
2	Juan Fernando Quintero	Shenzhen	7
3	Yan Dinghao	Guangzhou	6
	Son Jun-ho	Shandong Taishan
5	Guilherme	Guangzhou City	5
	Alan	Guangzhou
	Deng Hanwen
	Liu Binbin	Shandong Taishan
9	Paulinho	Hebei / Shanghai Port	4
	Christian Bassogog	Shanghai Shenhua
	Gao Tianyi	Beijing Guoan
	Huang Xiyang	Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic
	Qi Tianyu	Shandong Taishan
	Tan Long	Changchun Yatai
	Xie Pengfei	Cangzhou Mighty Lions

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Chinese Super League hat-tricks

Player	Club	Against	Result	Date	Source
Marko Arnautović	Shanghai Port	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	6–1 (A)	22 April 2021
Ricardo Goulart	Guangzhou	Cangzhou Mighty Lions	5–2 (H)	2 August 2021
Elkeson	Guangzhou	Qingdao	5–0 (H)	11 August 2021

Notes

• (H) – Home team
• (A) – Away team

Awards

Players of the Round

The following players were named the Players of the Round.

Round	Player	Club	Reference
1	Giovanni Moreno	Shanghai Shenhua	[47]
2	Marouane Fellaini	Shandong Taishan	[48]
3	Zhang Xizhe	Beijing Guoan	[49]
4	Tyias Browning	Guangzhou	[50]
5	Vacant	Vacant
6	Zhao Mingjian	Shanghai Shenhua	[51]
7	Tan Long	Changchun Yatai	[52]
8	Zhang Yuning	Beijing Guoan	[53]
9	Yang Liyu	Guangzhou	[54]
10	Guo Tianyu	Shandong Taishan	[55]
11	Duan Liuyu	Shandong Taishan	[56]
12	Marouane Fellaini	Shandong Taishan	[57]
13	Shi Yan	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger	[58]
14	Guo Tianyu	Shandong Taishan	[59]
15	Oscar	Shanghai Port	[60]
16	Son Jun-ho	Shandong Taishan	[61]
17	Son Jun-ho	Shandong Taishan	[62]
18	Henrique Dourado	Henan Songshan Longmen	[63]
19	Marouane Fellaini	Shandong Taishan	[64]
20	Tan Kaiyuan	Guangzhou	[65]
21	Zheng Zhi	Guangzhou	[66]
22	Xie Weijun	Tianjin Jinmen Tiger

League attendance

Attendance

Round	Total	Matches opened to spectators	Avg. Per Game
Round 1	42,699	4	5,337
Round 2	17,294	7	2,162
Round 3	51,739	6	6,467
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Total	111,732	17	4,656

Notes

1. The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.