The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China.
Fans commonly know the league as the CBA, and this acronym is regularly used in Chinese. There is also a Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA).
A few Chinese players who competed in the CBA in the early stages of their careers—including Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bateer, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, and Zhou Qi—have also played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Others, such as Xue Yuyang and Wang Zhelin, were chosen in the draft, but did not play in the NBA.
Only a limited number of foreign players are allowed on each CBA team. Notable imports include former NBA All-Stars Stephon Marbury, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, Steve Francis, Metta World Peace and Kenyon Martin—as well as several NBA veterans who would become CBA All-Stars—Michael Beasley, Aaron Brooks, Jimmer Fredette, Al Harrington, Lester Hudson, Randolph Morris, Shavlik Randolph, Jeremy Lin and J.R. Smith.
Background The CBA began play in the 1995–96 season. The league should not be confused with the Chinese Basketball Association (organisation), which was founded in June 1956 and represents the country in matters involving the sport's governing body, FIBA. Basketball in China is currently regulated by the Chinese Basketball Management Center.
Other Chinese basketball leagues include the National Basketball League (NBL), the Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA), and the Chinese High School Basketball League (CHBL). At one time there was a league called the Chinese New Basketball Alliance (CNBA), one of whose most prominent teams was the Beijing Sea Lions, but this venture lasted for just one winter (1996–97).
The first non-Chinese player to compete in the CBA was Mihail Savinkov of Uzbekistan, who joined the Zhejiang Squirrels in the league's inaugural 1995–96 campaign.. During the 1996–97 season, James Hodges became one of the first Americans to play in the CBA, and his signing by the Liaoning Hunters helped pave the way for many more imports from the United States to follow in the ensuing years.
Some other notable foreign pioneers included John Spencer, who joined the Jiangsu Dragons later in the 1996–97 campaign, and David Vanterpool, who inked a deal with the Jilin Northeast Tigers the following winter, who helped the team move up to the CBA in time for the 1998–99 season. The CBA's first international coach was American Robert Hoggard, who led the Sichuan Pandas for the last eight games of the 1997–98 campaign.
In June 2026, the CBA announced it would resume promotion-relegation, with the National Basketball League (NBL) acting as a second tier on the pyramid.
Team names For a full list of teams, see Current clubs section below. Also see :Category:Chinese Basketball Association teams.
The full name of each team usually consists of three parts, in the following order:
A geographic designation (except in the case of Bayi, which technically translates into English as "August First", the day China's People's Liberation Army was founded). All others are province-level designations (either a province or a Chinese municipality). A corporate sponsor name. This sponsor may change from year to year, and sometimes even in mid-season. A nickname, such as the name of an animal.
The presence of corporate sponsor names can occasionally lead to confusion about what name to use in English because many variants may be seen. Team names are usually abbreviated (in Chinese or English), so that either the corporate sponsor name or the nickname is used interchangeably (rarely both). In addition, team nicknames can sometimes be translated into English in more than one way, and corporate sponsors tend to change frequently over time.
Nickname changes are rare, but occasionally happen, such as when the Shandong team switched from Flaming Bulls (1995) to Lions (2003) to Gold Lions (2004) to Golden Stars (2014). Other examples include the Liaoning team dumping Hunters (1995) for Dinosaurs (2008) and then Flying Leopards (2011) -- as well as the Foshan team's evolving attempts to "Anglicize" its nickname—by going from Kylins (2001) to Dralions to Long-Lions.
In previous years, the title of the league itself was available for corporate naming sponsorship. In 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 it was known as the Hilton League, in 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 it was the Motorola League, and in 2003–2004 it was sponsored by China Unicom. These corporate league titles were not always used in the news media, however, and this sponsorship practice was discontinued at the start of the 2004–2005 season.
Current clubs While clubs are listed by division here, the CBA does not use these designations for regular season purposes anymore, as each squad now plays each other once at home and once on the road (plus eight additional games within each of the four rotating "strength of schedule" sub-groupings). Divisions are used for the league's annual All-Star Game, however, and are shown here for the sake of convenience.
ClubHome CityArenaHead coachClub nameName in Chinese Northern Division Beijing Ducks 北京首钢霹雳鸭 Beijing Wukesong Arena Xu Limin Beijing Royal Fighters 北京紫禁勇士 Beijing Beijing Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium Zhang Qingpeng Jilin Northeast Tigers 吉林九台农商行东北虎 Changchun, JilinJilin City, Jilin Changchun GymnasiumJilin City Arena Zhong Cheng Liaoning Flying Leopards 辽宁沈阳三生飞豹 Shenyang, Liaoning Liaoning Gymnasium Hugo López Qingdao Eagles 青岛国信海天雄鹰 Qingdao, Shandong Guoxin Gymnasium Liu Weiwei Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin 山东高速麒麟 Jinan, Shandong Shandong Arena Qiu Biao Shanxi Loongs 山西汾酒猛龙 Taiyuan, Shanxi Shanxi Sports Centre GymnasiumTaiyuan Riverside Sports Centre Gymnasium Pan Jiang Sichuan Blue Whales 四川锦城蓝鲸 Chengdu, Sichuan Jinqiang International Event Center Yang Cheng Tianjin Pioneers 天津荣钢先行者 Tianjin Dongli GymnasiumTianjin Arena Kyle Julius Xinjiang Flying Tigers 新疆广汇飞虎 Ürümqi, Xinjiang Urumqi Olympic Sports Center Goran Bjedov Southern Division Fujian Sturgeons 福建鲟浔兴 Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Fujian Zuchang Gymnasium Aleksandar Kesar Guangdong Southern Tigers 广东宏远华南虎 Dongguan, Guangdong Bank of Dongguan Basketball Center Nenad Jakovljević Guangzhou Loong Lions 广州龙狮 Guangzhou, Guangdong Tianhe Gymnasium Nathaniel Mitchell Jiangsu Dragons 江苏龙肯帝亚 Suzhou, Jiangsu Suzhou Sports Center Gymnasium Yi Li Nanjing Monkey Kings 南京同曦大圣 Nanjing, Jiangsu Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Arena Memi Bečirovič Ningbo Rockets 宁波富邦火箭 Ningbo, Zhejiang Youngor Arena Charis Markopoulos Shanghai Sharks 上海久事大鲨鱼 Shanghai Shanghai Indoor Stadium (Shanghai Arena) Lu Wei Shenzhen Leopards 深圳新世纪烈豹 Shenzhen, Guangdong Shenzhen Gymnasium Zhou Peng Zhejiang Golden Bulls 浙江稠州金牛 Hangzhou, ZhejiangYiwu, Jinhua, Zhejiang Binjiang GymnasiumYiwu Meihu Sports Centre Gymnasium Alexis Falekas Zhejiang Guangsha Lions 浙江广厦雄狮 Hangzhou, ZhejiangZhuji, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Hangzhou GymnasiumZhuji Sports Centre Gymnasium Wang Bo
Timeline This is a chronological listing of current and former CBA teams according to the season that they entered the league.
Finals
In 2005, the league unveiled the Mou Zuoyun Cup (), which was awarded for the first time to the winning team in the CBA Finals. Mou Zuoyun (1913–2007) was a member of the Chinese men's national basketball team which competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and he later served as a coach and a pioneer in building Chinese basketball.
Season Champions Result Runners-up Finals MVP Notes Winning team coach 1995–96 Bayi Rockets 2–0 Guangdong Southern Tigers Home-and-away series used for two seasons Wang Fei 1996–97 Bayi Rockets 2–0 Liaoning Hunters Wang Fei 1997–98 Bayi Rockets 3–0 Liaoning Hunters Best-of-five series used for eight seasons Wang Fei 1998–99 Bayi Rockets 3–0 Liaoning Hunters Wang Fei 1999–00 Bayi Rockets 3–0 Shanghai Sharks Wang Zhizhi (Bayi) Zhang Bin 2000–01 Bayi Rockets 3–1 Shanghai Sharks Yao Ming (Shanghai) Wang Fei 2001–02 Shanghai Sharks 3–1 Bayi Rockets Liu Yudong (Bayi) Li Qiuping 2002–03 Bayi Rockets 3–1 Guangdong Southern Tigers Liu Yudong (Bayi) Adiljan Suleyman 2003–04 Guangdong Southern Tigers 3–1 Bayi Rockets Du Feng (Guangdong) Li Chunjiang 2004–05 Guangdong Southern Tigers 3–2 Jiangsu Dragons Zhu Fangyu (Guangdong) Li Chunjiang 2005–06 Guangdong Southern Tigers 4–1 Bayi Rockets Yi Jianlian (Guangdong) Best-of-seven series used since 2005–06 Li Chunjiang 2006–07 Bayi Rockets 4–1 Guangdong Southern Tigers Wang Zhizhi (Bayi) Adiljan Suleyman 2007–08 Guangdong Southern Tigers 4–1 Liaoning Hunters Zhu Fangyu (Guangdong) Li Chunjiang 2008–09 Guangdong Southern Tigers 4–1 Xinjiang Flying Tigers Zhu Fangyu (Guangdong) Li Chunjiang 2009–10 Guangdong Southern Tigers 4–1 Xinjiang Flying Tigers Zhu Fangyu (Guangdong) Li Chunjiang 2010–11 Guangdong Southern Tigers 4–2 Xinjiang Flying Tigers Wang Shipeng (Guangdong) Li Chunjiang 2011–12 Beijing Ducks 4–1 Guangdong Southern Tigers Lee Hsueh-lin (Beijing) Min Lulei 2012–13 Guangdong Southern Tigers 4–0 Shandong Gold Lions Yi Jianlian Du Feng Jonas Kazlauskas 2013–14 Beijing Ducks 4–2 Xinjiang Flying Tigers Randolph Morris (Beijing) Min Lulei 2014–15 Beijing Ducks 4–2 Liaoning Flying Leopards Stephon Marbury (Beijing) Min Lulei 2015–16 Sichuan Blue Whales 4–1 Liaoning Flying Leopards Hamed Haddadi (Sichuan) Yang Xuezeng 2016–17 Xinjiang Flying Tigers 4–0 Guangdong Southern Tigers Darius Adams (Xinjiang) Li Qiuping 2017–18 Liaoning Flying Leopards 4–0 Zhejiang Guangsha Lions Lester Hudson (Liaoning) Guo Shiqiang 2018–19 Guangdong Southern Tigers 4–0 Xinjiang Flying Tigers Yi Jianlian (Guangdong) Du Feng 2019–20 Guangdong Southern Tigers 2–1 Liaoning Flying Leopards Sonny Weems (Guangdong) Best-of-three series due to the COVID-19 pandemic Du Feng 2020–21 Guangdong Southern Tigers 2–1 Liaoning Flying Leopards Hu Mingxuan (Guangdong) Best-of-three series due to the COVID-19 pandemic Du Feng2021–22 Liaoning Flying Leopards 4–0 Zhejiang Guangsha Lions Zhao Jiwei (Liaoning) Best-of-seven series returns Yang Ming2022–23 Liaoning Flying Leopards 4–0 Zhejiang Golden Bulls Zhao Jiwei (Liaoning) Yang Ming2023–24 Liaoning Flying Leopards 4–0 Xinjiang Flying Tigers Kyle Fogg (Liaoning) Yang Ming2024–25 Zhejiang Lions 4–2 Beijing Ducks Barry Brown Jr. (Zhejiang) Wang Bo2025–26 Shanghai Sharks 4–1 Zhejiang Lions Brandon Goodwin (Shanghai) Lu Wei
Finals appearances This is a list of the teams which have advanced to the CBA Finals and the overall win–loss records they have registered in the Championship Series.
RankingTeamTitle(s)Runners-up1Guangdong Southern Tigers1152Bayi Rockets833Liaoning Flying Leopards484Beijing Ducks315Shanghai Sharks226Xinjiang Flying Tigers167Zhejiang Lions138Sichuan Blue Whales109Jiangsu Dragons019Shandong Gold Lions019Zhejiang Golden Bulls01
CBA Club Cup Finals
Season Champions Result Runners-up CBA Club Cup Finals MVP Notes Winning team coach2024–25 Shanghai Sharks 89–80 Xinjiang Flying Tigers Eric Bledsoe (Shanghai) Lu Wei2025–26 Shanghai Sharks 114–94 Shanxi Loongs Kenneth Lofton Jr. (Shanghai) Lu Wei
CBA Club Cup Finals appearances This is a list of the teams which have advanced to the CBA Club Cup Finals and the overall win–loss records they have registered in the Championship Series.
TotalTeamTitle(s)Runners-up2Shanghai Sharks201Xinjiang Flying Tigers011Shanxi Loongs01
Awards The CBA Most Valuable Player award is presented to the league's best player in a given CBA season. Since the 2012–13 campaign, two awards have been handed out each year, Domestic MVP and International MVP. The rules for the selection of the MVP in the regular season are: the number of games must reach 28 or more; The comprehensive score of individual technical indicators ranks among the best; The team won the top three in the regular season. At the conclusion of each season, the CBA Finals MVP award is bestowed upon the most outstanding player in that year's championship series.