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- Yanbian Funde F.C.
- Hebei China Fortune F.C.
- Beijing Renhe F.C.
- Shanghai Shenxin F.C.
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.
Clubs
Clubs and locations
Managerial changes
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 can be on the field at any one time.| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Asian Player | Former Players |
| Beijing Guoan |  Renato Augusto | Ralf |  Burak Yılmaz |  Igor Sergeev | Egor Krimets | Kléber |
| Changchun Yatai |  Marcelo Moreno | Bruno Meneghel |  Darko Matić | Mislav Oršić | Anzur Ismailov |  Julien Gorius  Ognjen Ožegović |
| Chongqing Lifan |  Emanuel Gigliotti | Fernandinho | Alan Kardec | Goran Milović |  Jung Woo-young | Jael Ferreira |
| Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | Alan Carvalho | Ricardo Goulart | Paulinho |  Jackson Martínez | Kim Young-Gwon | |
| Guangzhou R&F |  Apostolos Giannou | Renatinho |  Eran Zahavi |  Gustav Svensson | Jang Hyun-Soo | Bruninho |
| Hangzhou Greentown | Matthew Spiranovic | Denílson Gabionetta | Anselmo Ramon | Sammir | Oh Beom-Seok | Tim Cahill  Davy Claude Angan |
| Hebei China Fortune | Aloísio |  Stéphane Mbia | Gervinho | Gaël Kakuta | Ersan Gülüm | Ezequiel Lavezzi |
| Henan Jianye | Ivo |  Javier Patiño |  Miral Samardžić | Osman Sow | Ryan McGowan |  Eddi Gomes |
| Jiangsu Suning | Trent Sainsbury | Ramires | Alex Teixeira |  Roger Martínez | Hong Jeong-ho | Jô Sammir |
| Liaoning Whowin | Michael Thwaite |  Assani Lukimya |  Anthony Ujah |  James Chamanga | Dario Vidošić | James Troisi  Ibrahima Touré |
| Shandong Luneng | Walter Montillo | Gil |  Graziano Pellè | Papiss Cissé |  Jucilei | Aloísio Diego Tardelli |
| Shanghai 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 | Matheus | Diego Maurício | 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 | Yoon Bit-Garam | Kim Seung-Dae |
- 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
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| Changchun Yatai |  Yaki Yen |  Jack Sealy |
| Hangzhou Greentown | Chen Po-liang |
League table
Results
Goalscorers
Top scorers
Source:| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ricardo Goulart | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | |
| 2 | Demba Ba | Shanghai Shenhua | |
| 2 | Alan Carvalho | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | |
| 2 | James Chamanga | Liaoning Whowin | |
| 2 |  Wu Lei | Shanghai SIPG | |
| 6 | Marcelo Moreno | Changchun Yatai | |
| Elkeson | Shanghai SIPG | ||
| Alex Teixeira | Jiangsu Suning | ||
| Burak Yılmaz | Beijing Guoan | ||
| Eran Zahavi | Guangzhou R&F |
Top assists
Source:| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Elkeson | Shanghai SIPG | |
| 1 | Gao Lin | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | |
| 3 | Cao Yunding | Shanghai Shenhua | |
| 3 | Wu Lei | Shanghai SIPG | |
| 5 | Ricardo Goulart | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | |
| 5 | Wang Dong | Chongqing Lifan | |
| 7 | Ivo | Henan Jianye | |
| 7 | Ji Xiang | Jiangsu Suning | |
| 9 | Alex Teixeira | Jiangsu Suning | |
| 9 | Jael Ferreira | Chongqing Lifan |
Hat-tricks
League attendance
††
Awards
The awards of 2016 Chinese Super League were announced on 5 November 2016.- Chinese Football Association Footballer of the Year: Ricardo Goulart
- Chinese Super League Golden Boot Winner: Ricardo Goulart
- Chinese Super League Domestic Golden Boot Award: Wu Lei
- Chinese Football Association Goalkeeper of the Year: Zeng Cheng
- Chinese Football Association Young Player of the Year: Li Xiaoming
- Chinese Football Association Manager of the Year: Luiz Felipe Scolari
- 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 :
- *GK Zeng Cheng
- *DF Zhang Linpeng, Kim Young-Gwon, Feng Xiaoting, Jiang Zhipeng
- *MF Ricardo Goulart, Paulinho, Wu Xi, Wu Lei
- *FW Gao Lin, Demba Ba