2016 Chinese Super League

The 2016 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League  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 Clubs relegated to 2016 China League One
 * Yanbian Changbaishan F.C.
 * Hebei Zhongji F.C.
 * Guizhou Renhe F.C.
 * Shanghai Shenxin F.C.

Yanbian Changbaishan and Hebei Zhongji both compete 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 F.C. changed their name to Hebei China Fortune F.C. in December 2015.
 * Jiangsu Guoxin Sainty F.C. changed their name to Jiangsu Suning F.C. in December 2015.
 * Yanbian Changbaishan F.C. changed their name to Yanbian Funde F.C. in January 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 player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.


 * Foreign players who left their clubs or were sent to reserve team after first half of the season.
 * Ersan Gülüm has Australian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player in the Chinese Super League
 * 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)

Top scorers
Source:

League attendance
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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)