# 2016 Chinese Super League

The 2016 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League (Chinese: 2016中国平安中国足球协会超级联赛) was the 13th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor was Ping An Insurance. Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao won their sixth consecutive title of the league.
The run-up to the season saw clubs spend £200 million on players.

## Club changes

Clubs promoted from 2015 China League One
* Yanbian Changbaishan
* Hebei Zhongji
Clubs relegated to 2016 China League One
* Guizhou Renhe
* Shanghai Shenxin
Yanbian Changbaishan and Hebei Zhongji both competed in the Chinese Super League for the first time in their respective histories. Guizhou Renhe were relegated after a 14-year spell in the Chinese top-flight, while Shanghai Shenxin were relegated to China League One after spending 6 seasons in the Chinese Super League.

### Name changes

* Hebei Zhongji changed their name to Hebei China Fortune in December 2015.
* Jiangsu Guoxin-Sainty changed their name to Jiangsu Suning in December 2015.
* Yanbian Changbaishan changed their name to Yanbian Funde in January 2016.

## Clubs
### Clubs and locations

| Team | Head coach | City | Stadium | Capacity | 2015 season |
| Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | Luiz Felipe Scolari | Guangzhou | Tianhe Stadium | 58,500 | 1st |
| Shanghai SIPG | Sven-Göran Eriksson | Shanghai | Shanghai Stadium | 56,842 | 2nd |
| Shandong Luneng Taishan | Felix Magath | Jinan | Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium | 56,808 | 3rd |
| Beijing Guoan | Xie Feng (caretaker) | Beijing | Workers' Stadium | 66,161 | 4th |
| Henan Jianye | Jia Xiuquan | Zhengzhou | Hanghai Stadium | 29,860 | 5th |
| Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | Gregorio Manzano | Shanghai | Hongkou Football Stadium | 33,060 | 6th |
| Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | Li Jinyu (caretaker) | Shijiazhuang | Yutong International Sports Center | 29,000 | 7th |
| Chongqing Lifan | Chang Woe-ryong | Chongqing | Chongqing Olympic Sports Center | 58,680 | 8th |
| Jiangsu Suning | Choi Yong-soo | Nanjing | Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre | 61,443 | 9th |
| Changchun Yatai | Lee Jang-soo | Changchun | Development Area Stadium | 25,000 | 10th |
| Hangzhou Greentown | Hong Myung-bo | Hangzhou | Huanglong Sports Center | 52,672 | 11th |
| Liaoning Whowin | Ma Lin | Shenyang | Shenyang Olympic Sports Centre Stadium | 60,000 | 12th |
| Tianjin TEDA | Jaime Pacheco | Tianjin | Tianjin Olympic Centre | 54,696 | 13th |
| Guangzhou R&F | Dragan Stojković | Guangzhou | Yuexiushan Stadium | 18,000 | 14th |
| Yanbian Funde | Park Tae-ha | Yanji | Yanji Stadium | 30,000 | CL1, 1st |
| Hebei China Fortune | Manuel Pellegrini | Qinhuangdao | Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium | 33,572 | CL1, 2nd |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Beijing Guoan | Gregorio Manzano | 26 November 2015 | Alberto Zaccheroni | 19 January 2016 |
| Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | Francis Gillot | 29 November 2015 | Gregorio Manzano | 18 December 2015 |
| Chongqing Lifan | Wang Baoshan | 30 November 2015 | Chang Woe-ryong | 7 December 2015 |
| Shandong Luneng Taishan | Cuca | 6 December 2015 | Mano Menezes | 6 December 2015 |
| Hangzhou Greentown | Yang Ji | 17 December 2015 | Hong Myung-bo | 17 December 2015 |
| Tianjin TEDA | Arie Haan | 18 December 2015 | Dragan Okuka | 18 December 2015 |
| Changchun Yatai | Marijo Tot | 31 December 2015 | Slaviša Stojanovič | 13 January 2016 |
| Changchun Yatai | Slaviša Stojanovič | 4 May 2016 | Lee Jang-soo | 6 May 2016 |
| Beijing Guoan | Alberto Zaccheroni | 21 May 2016 | Xie Feng (caretaker) | 21 May 2016 |
| Jiangsu Suning | Dan Petrescu | 3 June 2016 | Tang Jing (caretaker) | 3 June 2016 |
| Shandong Luneng Taishan | Mano Menezes | 7 June 2016 | Felix Magath | 8 June 2016 |
| Jiangsu Suning | Tang Jing (caretaker) | 1 July 2016 | Choi Yong-soo | 1 July 2016 |
| Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | Yasen Petrov | 14 July 2016 | Li Jinyu (caretaker) | 14 July 2016 |
| Tianjin TEDA | Dragan Okuka | 2 August 2016 | Jaime Pacheco | 2 August 2016 |
| Hebei China Fortune | Li Tie | 27 August 2016 | Manuel Pellegrini | 27 August 2016 |

## Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to five per CSL team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries, although only four (one AFC countries player at least) can be on the field at any one time.
* Players name in bold indicates the players that were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* Players name in italics indicates the players that were out of squads or left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | AFC player | Former players |
| Beijing Guoan | Ralf | Renato Augusto | Burak Yılmaz | Egor Krimets | Igor Sergeev | Kléber |
| Changchun Yatai | Marcelo Moreno | Bruno Meneghel | Darko Matić | Mislav Oršić | Anzur Ismailov | Julien Gorius Ognjen Ožegović |
| Chongqing Lifan | Emanuel Gigliotti | Alan Kardec | Fernandinho | Goran Milović | Jung Woo-young | Jael |
| Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | Alan | Paulinho | Ricardo Goulart | Jackson Martínez | Kim Young-gwon | |
| Guangzhou R&F | Apostolos Giannou | Renatinho | Eran Zahavi | Gustav Svensson | Jang Hyun-soo | Bruninho |
| Hangzhou Greentown | Matthew Spiranovic | Anselmo Ramon | Denílson Gabionetta | Sammir | Oh Beom-seok | Tim Cahill Davy Claude Angan |
| Hebei China Fortune | Aloísio | Stéphane Mbia | Gaël Kakuta | Gervinho | Ersan Gülüm | Ezequiel Lavezzi |
| Henan Jianye | Ryan McGowan | Ivo | Miral Samardžić | Osman Sow | Javier Patiño | Eddi Gomes |
| Jiangsu Suning | Trent Sainsbury | Alex Teixeira | Ramires | Roger Martínez | Hong Jeong-ho | Jô Sammir |
| Liaoning Whowin | Dario Vidošić | Assani Lukimya | Anthony Ujah | James Chamanga | Michael Thwaite | James Troisi Ibrahima Touré |
| Shandong Luneng Taishan | Walter Montillo | Gil | Graziano Pellè | Papiss Cissé | Jucilei | Aloísio Diego Tardelli |
| Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | Fredy Guarín | Giovanni Moreno | Obafemi Martins | Demba Ba | Kim Kee-hee | |
| Shanghai SIPG | Darío Conca | Elkeson | Hulk | Jean Evrard Kouassi | Kim Ju-young | Asamoah Gyan |
| Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | Diego Maurício | Matheus | Jean-Philippe Mendy | Rúben Micael | Cho Yong-hyung | Mario Rondón Jacob Mulenga |
| Tianjin TEDA | Fredy Montero | Malick Evouna | Zainadine Júnior | Mbaye Diagne | Aleksandar Jovanović | Wágner |
| Yanbian Funde | Bubacarr Trawally | Nikola Petković | Ha Tae-goon | Kim Seung-dae | Yoon Bit-garam | |
Last updated: 16 July 2016. Source: sports.ifeng.com (in Chinese)
* ^1 Ersan Gülüm has Australian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player in the Chinese Super League
* ^2 Jucilei has Palestine citizenship and was counted as an Asian player in the Chinese Super League
Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan outfield players (Contracts signed before 1 January 2016 doesn't count on the foreign or Asian player slot in CSL)
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| Changchun Yatai | Yaki Yen | Jack Sealy |
| Hangzhou Greentown | Chen Po-liang | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao (C) | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 62 | 19 | +43 | 64 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Jiangsu Suning | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 53 | 33 | +20 | 57 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Shanghai SIPG | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 56 | 32 | +24 | 52 | Qualification to Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | 30 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 48 | Qualification to Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Beijing Guoan | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 43 | |
| 6 | Guangzhou R&F | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 47 | 50 | −3 | 40 | |
| 7 | Hebei China Fortune | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 34 | 38 | −4 | 40 | |
| 8 | Chongqing Lifan | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 43 | 50 | −7 | 37 | |
| 9 | Yanbian Funde | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 37 | |
| 10 | Tianjin TEDA | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 50 | −12 | 36 | |
| 11 | Liaoning Whowin | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 36 | |
| 12 | Changchun Yatai | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 30 | 44 | −14 | 35 | |
| 13 | Henan Jianye | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 44 | −18 | 35 | |
| 14 | Shandong Luneng Taishan | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 38 | 45 | −7 | 34 | |
| 15 | Hangzhou Greentown (R) | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 32 | Relegation to League One |
| 16 | Shijiazhuang Ever Bright (R) | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 53 | −25 | 30 | Relegation to League One |
* ↑ Shanghai Greenland Shenhua qualified for the 2017 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs round as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao and Jiangsu Suning are 2016 Chinese FA Cup finalists.

## Results

| Home \ Away | GZE | SSI | SD | BJ | HN | SGS | SJZ | CQ | JSS | CC | HZ | LN | TJ | GZF | YB | HBC |
| Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 6–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Shanghai SIPG | 0–0 | | 4–1 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 5–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Shandong Luneng Taishan | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Beijing Guoan | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Henan Jianye | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 0–6 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 1–6 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Chongqing Lifan | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–5 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Jiangsu Suning | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 |
| Changchun Yatai | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–4 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Hangzhou Greentown | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Liaoning Whowin | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Tianjin TEDA | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–5 |
| Guangzhou R&F | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Yanbian Funde | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | | 3–2 |
| Hebei China Fortune | 0–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | |

## Goalscorers
### Top scorers

Source:
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ricardo Goulart | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | 19 |
| 2 | Alan | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | 14 |
| 2 | Wu Lei | Shanghai SIPG | 14 |
| 2 | Demba Ba | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | 14 |
| 2 | James Chamanga | Liaoning Whowin | 14 |
| 6 | Marcelo Moreno | Changchun Yatai | 13 |
| 7 | Alex Teixeira | Jiangsu Suning | 11 |
| 7 | Elkeson | Shanghai SIPG | 11 |
| 7 | Eran Zahavi | Guangzhou R&F | 11 |
| 7 | Burak Yılmaz | Beijing Guoan | 11 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Marcelo Moreno | Changchun Yatai | Tianjin TEDA | 4–4 | 3 April 2016 |
| Demba Ba | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 3–1 | 3 April 2016 |
| Demba Ba | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | Hangzhou Greentown | 4–0 | 19 June 2016 |
| Wu Lei | Shanghai SIPG | Guangzhou R&F | 3–3 | 31 July 2016 |
| Alex Teixeira | Jiangsu Suning | Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 6–1 | 11 September 2016 |
| Eran Zahavi | Guangzhou R&F | Hangzhou Greentown | 5–2 | 16 October 2016 |

## League attendance

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | 673,243 | 48,956 | 30,765 | 44,883 | −2.2%$^†$ |
| 2 | Jiangsu Suning | 584,879 | 48,795 | 28,923 | 38,992 | +45.2%$^†$ |
| 3 | Beijing Guoan | 571,704 | 53,080 | 31,801 | 38,114 | −7.0%$^†$ |
| 4 | Chongqing Lifan | 542,663 | 48,855 | 26,876 | 36,178 | −3.8%$^†$ |
| 5 | Shanghai SIPG | 420,603 | 46,537 | 20,009 | 28,040 | +6.3%$^†$ |
| 6 | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | 340,353 | 24,185 | 19,692 | 22,690 | +16.3%$^†$ |
| 7 | Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 337,839 | 26,261 | 17,909 | 22,523 | −10.2%$^†$ |
| 8 | Liaoning Whowin | 337,592 | 48,157 | 10,279 | 22,506 | +76.0%$^†$ |
| 9 | Tianjin TEDA | 326,104 | 36,820 | 15,671 | 22,081 | +12.3%$^†$ |
| 10 | Yanbian Funde | 289,562 | 25,280 | 10,158 | 19,304 | −21.2%$^†$ $^†$ |
| 11 | Shandong Luneng Taishan | 283,987 | 31,531 | 12,655 | 18,932 | −16.1%$^†$ |
| 12 | Hebei China Fortune | 277,034 | 24,631 | 11,076 | 18,469 | +135.8%$^†$ $^†$ |
| 13 | Henan Jianye | 259,236 | 21,377 | 11,237 | 17,282 | −14.5%$^†$ |
| 14 | Changchun Yatai | 230,232 | 23,629 | 7,463 | 15,335 | +3.2%$^†$ |
| 15 | Hangzhou Greentown | 175,841 | 22,739 | 5,135 | 11,723 | −6.7%$^†$ |
| 16 | Guangzhou R&F | 147,463 | 14,596 | 6,898 | 9,831 | +23.1%$^†$ |
| | League total | 5,798,135 | 53,080 | 5,135 | 24,159 | +8.9%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on Feb. 11th, 2017 Source: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Notes: $^†$ Teams played previous season in CL1.

## Awards

The awards of 2016 Chinese Super League were announced on 5 November 2016.
* Chinese Football Association Footballer of the Year: Ricardo Goulart (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao)
* Chinese Super League Golden Boot Winner: Ricardo Goulart (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao)
* Chinese Super League Domestic Golden Boot Award: Wu Lei (Shanghai SIPG)
* Chinese Football Association Goalkeeper of the Year: Zeng Cheng (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao)
* Chinese Football Association Young Player of the Year: Li Xiaoming (Henan Jianye)
* Chinese Football Association Manager of the Year: Luiz Felipe Scolari (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao)
* Chinese Football Association Referee of the Year: Ma Ning
* Chinese Super League Fair Play Award: Shandong Luneng Taishan, Tianjin TEDA
* Chinese Super League Team of the Year (442):
** GK Zeng Cheng (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao)
** DF Zhang Linpeng (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao), Kim Young-gwon (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao), Feng Xiaoting (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao), Jiang Zhipeng (Guangzhou R&F)
** MF Ricardo Goulart (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao), Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao), Wu Xi (Jiangsu Suning), Wu Lei (Shanghai SIPG)
** FW Gao Lin (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao), Demba Ba (Shanghai Greenland Shenhua)