In the spring of 2021, Jiangsu Football Club announced its dissolution and withdrawal from the top stage of Chinese soccer. However, footballers from Jiangsu stunned the Chinese Super League with a 4-1 victory on November 11, Kunshan's Zibo Cuju became the first county-level club in the history of the Super League, locking up qualification for the Super League five rounds ahead of schedule with a remarkable record of 24 wins and five draws.
The origins of the Kunshan team can be traced back to Zhenjiang Huasa Football Club, which relocated to Kunshan, Suzhou, at the end of 2018 and changed its name to Kunshan Football Club, according to Surfing News. Business information shows that Kunshan Football Club is backed by a strong lineup of shareholders, including Jiangsu Youmai Sports Development Co. and Kunshan Culture, Business and Tourism Group Co. both of which are holdings of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Office of Kunshan Municipal Government.
Most of the Chinese Super League clubs have their roots in big cities. In the 2022 season, for example, 15 of the 18 participating teams are from municipalities, provincial capitals or sub-provincial cities, with only three teams, Meizhou Hakka, Cangzhou Lions and Hebei (Langfang), coming from prefecture-level cities.
Kunshan is known as the "strongest county-level city", with a GDP of 470 billion yuan in 2021, more than many prefecture-level cities. The Kunshan team started out in the second (third) division, was promoted to the first division in 2020, and is now moving up to the Chinese Super League.
