The club was founded in April 1958 as Jiangsu Provincial Team by the local government and took part in the 1959 Chinese National Games where they placed twelfth.

They joined the top tier of the gradually expanding Chinese football league system in 1960; finishing nineteenth out of twenty-five teams.

[7] In March 1994, the club gained sponsorship and changed its name to Jiangsu Maint to comply with the requirements to take part in the 1994 Chinese Jia-A League season.

The stricter operational costs of the league resulted in the club struggling financially, which was exacerbated by also losing its sponsorship.

The club changed its name to Jiangsu Jiajia as a result of sponsorship; however, its improved financial stability did not prevent relegation to the third tier at the end of the 1996 season.

[10] The new owners did not get off to the best of starts when it was discovered they were unable to prevent some of their players and coaches from taking bribes; maleficence was shown to have taken place in the 6 October game of the 2001 season in a 4–2 loss to Chengdu Wuniu.

The offending participants were banned for a year while the club had three months to reform and re-apply for a Chinese Football Association playing license.

[14] On the field under Dragan Okuka the team had a difficult 2013 league season and were almost relegated, leading to the club deciding not to renew his contract.

On 12 November 2020, Jiangsu Suning were crowned champions of the Chinese Super League for the first time in club history with a 2–1 aggregate victory over Guangzhou Evergrande in the finals.

[20] On 28 February 2021, the parent company Suning Holdings Group announced that operations were going to cease immediately alongside the women and youth teams due to financial difficulties.

Their first meeting occurred in Nanjing Yoyo's home ground on 19 July 2003 in a second-tier league game, which ended in a 1–1 draw.

[25] For six seasons the two teams fought to be the dominant club within Nanjing City with Jiangsu predominately the stronger side with four wins, seven draws and only one defeat.