| Competition: | Chinese Super League |
| Pixels: | 150px |
| Season: | 2012 |
| Winners: | Guangzhou Evergrande (2nd title) |
| Relegated: | Henan Jianye Dalian Shide (disbanded) |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Guangzhou Evergrande Jiangsu Sainty Beijing Guoan Guizhou Maotai |
| League Topscorer: | Cristian Dănălache (23 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Jiangsu Sainty 5–0 Dalian Shide (Apr. 1st, 2012) Guizhou Moutai 5–0 Hangzhou Greentown (Jun. 17th, 2012) (5 goals) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Henan Construction 0–4 Shanghai Shenxin (Mar. 17th, 2012) Beijing Guoan 0–4 Changchun Yatai (Sept. 29th, 2012) (4 goals) |
| Highest Scoring: | Liaoning Whowin 5–3 Dalian Aerbin (Jul. 28th, 2012) (8 goals) |
| Matches: | 240 |
| Total Goals: | 630 |
| Longest Wins: | Guangzhou Evergrande Hangzhou Greentown (4 matches) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | Jiangsu Sainty (13 matches) |
| Longest Winless: | Dalian Shide Qingdao Jonoon Shandong Luneng Shanghai Shenxin (7 matches) |
| Longest Losses: | Guangzhou R&F (4 matches) |
| Highest Attendance: | 65,769 Jiangsu Sainty 1–1 Guangzhou Evergrande (Oct. 20th, 2012) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 0 Liaoning Whowin 4–0 Hangzhou Greentown (Sept. 23rd, 2012) |
| Average Attendance: | 18,740 |
| Prevseason: | 2011 |
| Nextseason: | 2013 |
The 2012 Chinese Super League was the ninth season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the nineteenth season of a professional football league and the 51st top-tier league season in China. It began on March 10, 2012 and ended on November 3, 2012.[1]
The matches that were intended to be held on September 15 and 16, 2012 were suspended for a later date due to an international dispute between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands.[2] With Hangzhou Greentown F.C. having a Japanese manager and several Chinese demonstrations arising throughout China it was decided that the September 23, 2012 match against Liaoning Whowin F.C. should be played behind closed doors with the Xianghe National Football Training Base used as a neutral venue.[3]
Teams promoted from 2011 China League One
Teams relegated to 2012 China League One
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guangzhou R&F |  Li Shubin | Sacked | Pre-season[4] | N/A |  Sérgio Farias | Pre-season | |
| Changchun Yatai | Shen Xiangfu | Resigned | Pre-season | N/A |  Svetozar Šapurić | Pre-season[5] | |
| Dalian Aerbin |  Aleksandar Stankov | Sacked | Pre-season | N/A | Chang Woe-ryong | Pre-season[6] | |
| Henan Jianye |  Jo Bonfrere | Mutual consent | Pre-season | N/A | Jan Versleijen | Pre-season[7] | |
| Hangzhou Greentown | Wu Jingui | Resigned | Pre-season | N/A |  Takeshi Okada | Pre-season[8] | |
| Shandong Luneng Taishan |  Manuel Barbosa | End of contract | Pre-season | N/A | Henk ten Cate | Pre-season[9] | |
| Shanghai Shenhua |  Dražen Besek | End of contract | Pre-season | N/A |  Jean Tigana | Pre-season[10] | |
| Tianjin Teda | Arie Haan | End of contract | Pre-season | N/A | Josip Kuže | Pre-season[11] | |
| Qingdao Jonoon | Chang Woe-ryong | End of contract | Pre-season | N/A | Blaž Slišković | Pre-season[12] | |
| Qingdao Jonoon | Blaž Slišković | FIFA Arbitration | 13 March 2012[13] | 10th | Yang Weijian (caretaker) | 13 March 2012 | |
| Dalian Aerbin | Chang Woe-ryong | Resigned | 3 April 2012[14] | 15th | Aleksandar Stanojević | 4 April 2012[15] | |
| Shanghai Shenhua | Jean Tigana | Resigned | 26 April 2012[16] | 10th | Jean-Florent Ikwange Ibenge (caretaker) | 26 April 2012 | |
| Guangzhou Evergrande | Lee Jang-soo | Sacked | 17 May 2012[17] | 1st |  Marcello Lippi | 17 May 2012 | |
| Qingdao Jonoon | Yang Weijian (caretaker) | – | 24 May 2012 | 16th | Chang Woe-ryong | 24 May 2012[18] | |
| Tianjin Teda | Sacked | 28 May 2012[19] | 11th |  Alexandre Guimarães | 1 June 2012[20] | ||
| Shanghai Shenhua | Jean-Florent Ikwange Ibenge (caretaker) | – | 30 May 2012 | 9th |  Sergio Batista | 30 May 2012[21] | |
| Henan Jianye | Jan Versleijen | Sacked | 15 July 2012 | 16th | Shen Xiangfu | 15 July 2012[22] | |
| Shandong Luneng Taishan | Henk ten Cate | Resigned | 6 September 2012 | 12th | Wu Jingui (caretaker) | 6 September 2012[23] |
The number of foreign players is restricted to five per CSL team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.[24] A team can use four foreign players on the field in each game, including at least one player from the AFC country. Players from Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese Taipei are deemed to be native players in CSL.
| Player | For ! | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jiangsu Sainty | Henan Jianye | 5–1[26] | |||
| Dalian Shide | Tianjin Teda | 4–1[27] | |||
| | Guangzhou R&F | Changchun Yatai | 5–1[28] | ||
| | Guangzhou Evergrande | Jiangsu Sainty | 5–1[29] | ||
 | Dalian Aerbin | Shandong Luneng | 5–2[30] | ||
| Jiangsu Sainty | Shandong Luneng | 3–3[31] | |||
| | Liaoning Whowin | Hangzhou Greentown | 4–0[32] |
Cristian Dănălache (Jiangsu Sainty) Cristian Dănălache (Jiangsu Sainty) Wang Yongpo (Shandong Luneng Taishan) Deng Xiaofei (Jiangsu Sainty) Zhang Xizhe (Beijing Guoan) Dragan Okuka (Jiangsu Sainty) Tan Hai (Beijing) Deng Xiaofei (Jiangsu Sainty) Sun Xiang (Guangzhou Evergrande), Du Wei (Shandong Luneng Taishan), 
Dino Djulbic (Guizhou Renhe), Zheng Zheng (Shandong Luneng Taishan) Yu Hanchao (Liaoning FC), Zheng Zhi (Guangzhou Evergrande), Darío Conca (Guangzhou Evergrande), Wang Yongpo (Shandong Luneng Taishan) Cristian Dănălache (Jiangsu Sainty), Gao Lin (Guangzhou Evergrande)| Attendance | Round | Date | Home | Score | Away | Venue | Weekday | Time of Day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65,769 | 28 | 20 October 2012 | 1–1 | Saturday | Night | ||||
| 52,888 | 20 | 4 August 2012 | 2–1 | Saturday | Night | ||||
| 52,836 | 29 | 27 October 2012 | 0–0 | Saturday | Afternoon | ||||
| 51,983 | 1 | 10 March 2012 | 2–1 | Saturday | Night | ||||
| 51,795 | 2 | 16 March 2012 | 3–2 | Friday | Night | ||||
| 42,668 | 16 | 7 July 2012 | 1–0 | Saturday | Night | ||||
| 42,241 | 4 | 2 April 2012 | 1–2 | Monday | Afternoon | ||||
| 41,287 | 6 | 13 April 2012 | 2–1 | Friday | Night | ||||
| 39,997 | 19 | 28 July 2012 | 2–2 | Saturday | Night | ||||
| 39,991 | 17 | 15 July 2012 | 0–1 | Sunday | Night |
