It was the second of two rounds held in China in 2014, the first having taken place at the Goldenport Park Circuit in Beijing the previous weekend.

López led the drivers' championship coming into the round, sixty–six points ahead of teammate Yvan Muller.

William Lok replaced Michael Soong at Campos Racing as planned, joining regular driver John Filippi.

[3] Muller was quickest in the foggy conditions of free practice one on Saturday morning, the Hondas of Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro separated the four Citroëns in the top–six.

Robert Huff slowed with a puncture on the last lap as López led a Citroën 1–2–3–4 to secure the first World Touring Car Championship manufacturers' title for the French team.

On lap five Huff stopped at the side of the circuit after turn two following contact with Gianni Morbidelli who was later given a drive–through penalty for causing the collision.

On the same lap Tarquini started to slow with technical problems promoting Monteiro to second as López moved into third at the expense of Valente.

[8] After the race Loeb was given a 30–second time penalty for the incident with Muller, dropping him from fourth to twelfth in the final classification.