It’s 2025 and some Chinese Super League teams are preparing for life without some key players after recent retirement announcements.
At the turn of the year, a number of veteran players across all levels of Chinese football made announcements on social media of their retirement.
This included former Shanghai Shenhua player Macario Hing-Glover, aka Yan Xinli in China, who has hung up his boots at the age of just 29.
However, there have been some players with significant tenure at the top level of Chinese football who have joined Hing-Glover and ended their playing careers.
Cao Yunding
First is a player who could almost be considered ‘Mr. Shanghai’, having been born in the city and played his entire career for just two clubs – both from Shanghai.
Developing as a youth at the famous Genbao Football Academy, Cao Yunding began his professional career with Shanghai East Asia (now Port), where he played between 2006 and 2010.
During that time, he helped guide the club to the 2007 China League Two title. After back-to-back fourth-place finishes in China League One, he moved to city rivals Shanghai Shenhua – the club he would become best known with.
With Shenhua, Cao would become an integral part on the left side of the pitch. He made over 300 appearances in China’s top tier and claimed four pieces of silverware during his career – three Chinese FA Cups (2017, 2019, 2023) as well as the 2024 Chinese FA Super Cup.
His performances were rewarded with five caps for the China National Team and Cao Yunding will be remembered fondly now that his boots have been hung up at the age of 35.
Yu Dabao
While Cao Yunding played his entire career with just two clubs, in one city, Yu Dabao played for many teams across many cities and even across countries.
The 36-year-old from Qingdao, Shandong, began his career with local side Qingdao Hailifeng, making 30 total appearances for the club by the time he was 18.
His talent and promise was noticed by many clubs and he moved to Portugal to play for giants Benfica – making three appearances.
He was loaned out to three lower-league clubs in Portugal before making his return to China with Tianjin TEDA in 2010.
He helped Tianjin claim the Chinese FA Cup in 2011 before moving to Dalian A’erbin the next season. After three years with Dalian, he joined Bejing Guoan – becoming a stalwart for the club, including a spell as captain, over ten seasons in the capital.
After playing just over 360 minutes in the 2024 season, the versatile striker/centre back decided to hang up his boots and has joined Beijing in a youth coaching capacity.
In total, he made over 320 appearances in the Chinese Super League along with earning 65 caps with the China National Team – including 19 goals.