There have been many top playmakers throughout the 21-year history of the Chinese Super League, but which players can claim to have helped contribute towards the most goals outside of actually scoring them themselves?
Many top players have found the back of the net while playing in China, but often, the players who help provide opportunities for their teammates to score are overlooked and undervalued across the world.
Having a player capable of putting in a pinpoint pass can be a difference maker for teams throughout the Middle Kingdom, and the top five players in terms of providing assists were certainly capable of doing that throughout their careers.
Here are the five players who have registered the most assists in the history of the Chinese Super League.
5. Zhang Xizhe
The first player to appear on this list is in fact the only player on the list who is still actively playing in the Chinese Super League, albeit at a significantly reduced rate due to his advancing age.
At 34 years old, Zhang Xizhe has played seven matches in 2025 for Beijing Guoan and has scored three goals in the process. Although he has been a bit-part player this year, most recently sidelined with a thigh injury, he has had an illustrious career that has seen him play a key role.
That key role has been for just one team in China, the capital city club, with whom he began his career back in 2009, while having a brief spell at the team’s Singaporean affiliate in 2010, as well as with German club Vfl Wolfsburg in 2015.
In China, however, Zhang Xizhe has racked up over 400 appearances across all competitions for Beijing and in terms of league play, he has scored 57 goals of his own in 330 matches played.
A Number 10 his whole career, he has been a strong distributor of the ball and has contributed an even more impressive 66 assists in the Chinese Super League alone, this jumps up to 77 when factoring all other competitions throughout the past 16 years.
Still playing in the league could see him leapfrog the next player on this list if he can just find a way to contribute to a handful more goals.
4. Wang Song
Fourth in the list for most assist providers is a player who, at one time, topped the list for most appearances made in China’s top tier, the famous/now infamous journeyman Wang Song.
Wang Song had spells with a number of clubs in the Chinese Super League, including the likes of Chengdu Blades, Hangzhou Greentown (now Zhejiang FC) and Jiangsu Suning.
He was a mainstay in all of the teams he featured for and even appeared in the top tier with Nantong Zhiyun back in 2023, having spent the previous three years playing in the lower levels of the Chinese football pyramid.
An ever-present fixture in the heart of midfield, Wang Song only made nine appearances for the China National Team but was a crucial provider for goalscorers throughout his career.
In nearly 400 Chinese Super League matches played, Wang Song provided assists a stunning 68 times – two more than Zhang Xizhe, who could potentially overtake him in this list if he can be a provider three more times before the end of his playing days.
Wang Song was a picture of stability and consistency in his career, but the way it ended will undoubtedly throw a cloud of doubt over his accomplishments, with his ban from football coming as a result of a detailed gambling/match fixing investigation last year.
His numbers remain, however, and 68 is enough to put him fourth on this list.
3. Zheng Zhi
Zheng Zhi has appeared on many lists of all-time greatest Chinese Super League players, due to his longevity, consistency and overall quality that made him easily one of the best names in Chinese football in the 21st century.
His stint in England highlighted how important he was to the Chinese game back home and his accolades for Guangzhou Evergrande will likely never be matched again, with so much time dedicated to succeeding with one team.
Zheng Zhi played a crucial role for more than just Guangzhou, though, having also won the Chinese Super League with both Shenzhen Jianlibao and Shandong Luneng Taishan in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
He dominated the midfield in his home nation and was a vital player for the national team, featuring 108 times. But at club level, his ability to distribute the ball and provide key passes saw him become one of the best playmakers around, with a sensational 72 assists made throughout his illustrious and highly decorated career.
He sat second on this list for a long time, behind the current second-placed player, who was eclipsed only in recent years.
2. Du Zhenyu
Some players are synonymous with one club in China, like Zheng Zhi and Guangzhou Evergrande, even if that player did not play their entire career for said club.
That is certainly the case with the second player on this list, Du Zhenyu (pictured, left). He spent the majority fo his career playing for Changchun Yatai, where he has become a genuine club legend, regularly comments on the team via social media and still lives in the city of Changchun today.
A maestro on the left wing, Du Zhenyu was a key piece to the sensational puzzle that saw Changchun win the 2007 Chinese Super League title and narrowly miss out on winning it a second time in 2009.
Alongside the likes of Zhang Xiaofei and Wang Dong, he will forever be etched in the club’s history and, despite a few years playing for Tianjin TEDA between 2012 and 2014, he returned a hero and saw out the rest of his career in the one place he should have stayed for its entirety.
Capped 24 times for the China National Team, he was often overlooked for other players, despite being the last Chinese player to win Player of the Year in the top tier, which he did in 2007.
All told, Du Zhenyu pips Zheng Zhi to second on this list by just one solitary assist, taking his total to 73. He was at one point the leader in this category and remained there until next on this list overtook him during the 2024 season – nearly six years after he retired.
1. Oscar
The leader on this list is likely to remain that way for many years to come, as he sits here with a shocking 20 more assists than Du Zhenyu.
Oscar is arguably the biggest international star to come to China, and he stayed there even after the gold rush era had died, picking himself up a number of trophies and accolades with Shanghai Port.
He scored a number of important goals for Port, but he was always a pass-first type player and racked up assists at an astonishing rate, finishing his time in Shanghai with 142 all told in all competitions played.
In the league, however, he ended his time in China’s largest city with 93 and will go down in history as one of the greatest players to ever grace the pitch in the Middle Kingdom.
He still plays, now back home in Brazil, but the red side of Shanghai still pines after him and the 24 assists he earned in the 2024 season were enough to see him leapfrog Du Zhenyu and firmly plant him atop this list by some distance.