The Chinese pro-league started in 1994. Following that it underwent wide reforms in terms of football business and professionalism. Until 2003 it was played in two leagues, the A-league with 15 teams and the B-league with 14 teams, however from 2004 it aimed for more development and started a new league system, with 12 teams in the China super league and 15 teams in the second division. Teams in the super league (15) and second division (13) are battling to become champions in the form of round robin, home and away games. In 2008 16 teams in the Super League and 13 teams in the A League will fight for the title over 2 legs of home and away matches. The league matches start in March and end in November (the A League runs from April to November).
The team crowned champion the most since 1994 is Dalian Wanda who won three consecutive championships in 1994~1998 and 2000~2002, 8 times in total. Shandong Luneng became the champions in 2006 after an interval of seven years. In 2007 Changchun Yatai claimed their first ever league title.
Before the 2002 FIFA World Cup the league issued a “Ban forbidding national team players to transfer abroad to foreign clubs” so that main players would remain playing in the Chinese league. Today the issue has been abolished so a lot of players now transfer to foreign countries.

 as of 1st March 2008