Chinese Women's Super League

Chinese Women's Super League (CWSL)

Founded	1997; 27 years ago (1997)
Country	China
Confederation	Asian Football Confederation
Number of clubs	12
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Chinese Women's League
International cup(s)	AFC Women's Champions League
Current champions	Wuhan Jiangda (5 titles) (2024)
Most championships	Shanghai Shengli (11 titles)
Website	http://women.thecfa.cn/
Current: 2025 Chinese Women's Super League

The Chinese Football Association Women's Super League (CWSL) (Chinese: 中国女足超级联赛; pinyin: zhōngguónǚzú chāojí liánsài), commonly known as the Chinese Women's Super League or the CWSL is the top level women's football league in China.^[1] It was called the Chinese Women's National Football League from 2011 to 2014.

History

The league started in 1997 as the Chinese Women's Premier Football League. The name Women's Super League was first adopted in 2004. During the 2011 to 2014 seasons, the league was renamed to Women's National Football League and discontinued the practice of promotion and relegation due to a lack of available teams and playing talent.

In 2015, the Chinese Football Association relaunched the league,^[1] again as the Women's Super League and with an affiliated second division, CWFL. It also gained a title sponsor, LeTV Holdings Co Ltd.^[2] The league signed a five-year deal with Spanish apparel company Kelme to provide uniforms.^[3]

Investment in women's clubs accelerated after the 2016 season with major corporate sponsors and investors, such as Quanjian Group and Guotai Junan Securities, raising player salaries and recruiting high-profile players from top-division leagues in Europe.^[4] This included Brazilian star Cristiane from Paris Saint-Germain to Changchun Zhuoyue,^[5] 2016 Toppserien golden boot winner Isabell Herlovsen from LSK Kvinner FK to Jiangsu Suning F.C., and Nigerian star Asisat Oshoala from Arsenal L.F.C. and Cameroonian star Gaelle Enganamouit from FC Rosengård to Dalian Quanjian F.C.^[6][7]

Current clubs

Beijing Jingtan

Changchun Dazhong Zhuoyue

Chongqing

Guangdong

Henan

Jiangsu Yinhao

Liaoning Shenbei Hefeng

Shaanxi Qinsheng

Shandong Jinghua

Shanghai Shengli

Wuhan Jiangda

Zhenjiang Hangzhou

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Locations of teams in the 2023 Chinese Women's Super League

Club		Location	Stadium	Capacity
English name	Chinese name
Beijing Jingtan	北京京坛	Beijing	Xiannongtan Stadium	24,000
Changchun Dazhong Zhuoyue	长春大众卓越	Changchun	Development Area Stadium	23,400
Chongqing	重庆女足	Chongqing	Yongchuan Sports Center	25,017
Guangdong	广东女足	Foshan	Nanhai Sports Center	20,000
Henan	河南女足	Xinxiang	Xinxiang Sports Centre Stadium	31,308
Jiangsu Yinhao	江苏茵豪	Nanjing	Jiangning Sports Center	30,000
Liaoning Shenbei Hefeng	辽宁沈北禾丰	Dalian	Dalian Pro Soccer Academy Base Stadium	5,000
Shaanxi Qinsheng	陕西秦盛	Shaanxi	Yan'an National Fitness Center Stadium	30,105
Shandong Jinghua	山东精花	Zaozhuang	Zaozhuang Sports and Cultural Park Stadium	30,000
Shanghai Shengli	上海盛丽	Shanghai	Jinshan Sports Centre	30,000
Wuhan Jiangda	武汉车谷江大	Wuhan	Tazihu Football Training Centre	5,000
Zhenjiang Hangzhou	浙江杭州	Hangzhou	Linping Sports Centre Stadium	10,200

Champions

The list of CWSL champions:^[8]

Year	Club
1997	Guangdong Haiyin
1998	Shanghai Yuandong
1999	Beijing Chengjian
2000	Shanghai STV Youlizi
2001	Shanghai STV
2002	Beijing Chengjian
2003	Shanghai STV
2004	Shanghai STV
2005	Shanghai STV
2006	Shanghai STV
2007	Tianjin Huisen
2008	Dalian Shide
2009	Jiangsu Huatai
2010	Shanghai STV
2011	Team Shanghai[9]
2012	Dalian Shide[10]
2013	Dalian Aerbin
2014	Team Shanghai
2015	Shanghai Guotai Jun'an
2016	Dalian Quanjian
2017	Dalian Quanjian
2018	Dalian Quanjian
2019	Jiangsu Suning
2020	Wuhan Jianghan University
2021	Wuhan Jianghan University
2022	Wuhan Jianghan University
2023	Wuhan Jiangda
2024	Wuhan Jiangda

Wins by club

Club	Championships	Years
Shanghai Shengli	11	1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015
Dalian Quanjian (defunct)	6	2008, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018
Wuhan Jiangda	5	2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Jiangsu Suning	2	2009, 2019
Beijing Chengjian	2	1999, 2002
Guangdong Haiyin	1	1997
Tianjin Huisen	1	2007
Shanghai Guotai Jun'an	1	2015

See also

• Sport in China
  • Football in China
    • Women's football in China
• China women's national football team

References

1. Rick, Oliver; Li, Longxi (2023-01-05). Global Sports and Contemporary China: Sport Policy, International Relations and New Class Identities in the People's Republic. Springer Nature. p. 129. ISBN 978-3-031-18595-3.
2. Sun Xiaochen (8 April 2017). "Chinese Women's Super League launched to promote women's soccer". China Daily. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
3. "Spanish Kelme sponsored China Women's Super League". Yutang Sports. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
4. Qingyang Chen (28 December 2016). "Increase in incomes of Chinese women football players in 2016". Yutang Sports. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
5. "Cristiane to Move to Chinese Club Changchun Zhuoyue in June". Associated Press. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
6. Lawson, Sophie (15 February 2017). "Opinion: The money boom in the Chinese Women's Super League is a positive". Vavel. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
7. Lia, Gianluca (13 February 2017). "Chinese blueprint in women's football". Vavel. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
8. "China - List of Women Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
9. "2011 table and results" (in Chinese). zuqiuziliao.cn. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
10. "2012 Standings" (in Chinese). zuqiuziliao.cn. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.

External links

• Official website, theCFA.cn (in English)
• League at futbol24.com
• Official Website Archived 2016-10-29 at the Wayback Machine of the Federation (in Chinese)
• Past and current league seasons (in Chinese)