A youth league tournament series, the 2017 China League Elite Youth Team, will be staged as an auxiliary part of the China League, according to the Chinese Football Association (CFA). 

“All the 2017 China League clubs are mandated to send their youth teams to play in this league,” said the CFA. “Clubs relegated from the China League will not be allowed to send youth teams to play in the tournaments any more, while the ones promoted from Chinese Football Association Division Two League must do so.”

Players from the age groups U16 to U19 will be qualified. Each team is allowed to establish a squad of 20-30 players but those of foreign, Hongkong, Macau or Taiwan origin are not allowed. 

The youth league tournament series will be divided into 5 stages throughout the year, during which there will be round robin competitions in the different sub-divisions. Each stage is made up of 4 sub-divisions, and each sub-division 4 teams, with all the teams having to meet each other twice. There will be 240 matches during the season which will last from May 20th to Nov 26th. 

Source: Dongqiudi

Proofread by Sean O Diobhilin