Shanghai Shenhua, who qualified for the AFC Champions League, boost their squad with Li Weifeng from the debt-ridden Shenzhen Jianlibao for 6.5 million RMB, the highest transfer fee this season.

In additional, Shenhua bought over Liu Yunfei from Tianjin TEDA for 0.9 million and recalled defender Du Wei from Celtic.

Meanwhile, a record 13 league win in a row saw Shandong gaining an unassailable lead at the top.

With Shandong the clear winner, the interest in the second half of the season was the race to the second place and the fight against relegation.

In the end, Chongqing Lifan were relegated with two games to go while the race for second went all the way down to the wire before Shanghai Shenhua clinch the second spot with a last day win over Liaoning while Beijing Guoan slips.