The Chinese Football Association (CFA) released an official statement on January 4, 2018, regarding the restriction of transfer fees during the 2018 winter transfer window for the Chinese Super League (CSL) and China League One (CL). 

As the CFA previously required, any club in the CSL and CL who buys a foreign player for over RMB 45m or a domestic player whose transfer fee exceeds RMB 20m should pay the same sum of money as the transfer fee spent to the CFA. 

In the CFA’s opinion, it is the only solution benefiting the healthy and steady development of the professional football leagues in China and curb the irrational spending on players.

This restriction was put in place in May 2017 along with the U23 policy. In the 2017 season, the CFA explained that the fees charged to clubs in the red would be used for the development of local young players and the promotion of football in China.

Under this restriction, the 2017 summer transfer window of the CSL and CL saw a cooling down period. As transfermarkt.com reported, the total expenditure of the 16 CSL clubs in the 2017 summer transfer window was €55.45m ranking it 12th place on the list. 

Below is a photo of the notice taken from the Internet.  

Source: Tencent Sports

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick