November 6: The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has announced on their official website that the CFA Division Two League (C2L), the third-tier football league in China, will expand from current 24 to 28 teams in 2018. 

According to the CFA, the top 8 teams of the CFA Amateur League (CAL), the fourth-tier league of China, will play for promotion to the C2L in 2018, as the top 4 teams from the CAL will take the 23rd to 26th places in next season’s C2L. 

And the teams ranked in 5th and 6th position of the 2017 CAL will secure their positions by competing in two playoff games with the teams ranked 23rd and 24th in the 2017 C2L. The two winners will take the remaining two places in the next edition of the C2L, followed by the two losing playoff teams and the 7th and 8th teams in the 2017 CAL.  

This new action ensures that a promotion and relegation system has been set up between the C2L and the CAL, making promotion and relegation compulsory for all  four tiers of the Chinese football league, which includes the Chinese Super League, the CFA China League One, the C2L and the CAL. 

Source: CFA 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick