Reporter Wang Wei reports On the evening of March 17, the draw ceremony for the 2025 season of the China Champions League regional competition was held in Sanshui District, Foshan, Guangdong. After the on-site guests and delegates drew lots, the 70 teams participating in this year's China Champions League were located in 9 divisions in the south and north. Compared with previous seasons, the number of participants in the Champions League this year has increased significantly, and at the same time, the regional competition and the final play-offs have been added, and the home-and-away double-elimination system has been implemented, thereby increasing the competitiveness of the competition. The opening match and opening ceremony of the 2025 China Champions League season will be held in Qujing, Yunnan Province on April 2, with the host Yunnan Fuhe facing Nanning Oriental Juding.

The number of participating teams in this year's Champions League has increased significantly, and the 70 teams participating in the draw are divided into 9 divisions in the south and north, namely Qujing in Yunnan, Xingyi in Guizhou, Wuchuan in Guangdong, Sanshui in Guangdong, Dingnan in Jiangxi, Yinchuan in Ningxia, Yulin in Shaanxi, Baotou in Inner Mongolia and Rizhao in Shandong. On the evening of March 17, Zhou Sui'an, vice chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Football Association, Ye Junkai, director of the Sanshui District Culture, Radio, Tourism and Sports Bureau, Zhao Jiayi, general manager of Ruike Sports, and representatives of some participating clubs participated in the draw.

In the 2025 season, the competition method for the regional stage and the final stage of the Champions League has changed from the past. The regional competition is a centralized competition system, which first adopts a group single round-robin system, which is divided into 9 regions and 18 groups, with 3-4 teams in each group. Every two groups are in one division. A total of 4 teams from the first and second places in the two groups in the same region will form a promotion group and play two rounds of single round-robin matches (the two teams in the same group will no longer play); At the end of the qualifying group, only the results of the matches between the four teams will be counted in the standings. The first place in each division will directly enter the finals, the five second places with the best results will directly enter the finals, and the other four second places will be played in the home and away play-offs to produce the last two promotion places. A total of 16 teams will advance to the finals through the qualifying group competitions and play-offs in each region.

Zeng Dan, Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee of the China Champions League, said in his opening speech: "The China Champions League is an important cornerstone of China's football pyramid, carrying the core mission of tapping the potential of the grassroots and cultivating professional talents. We look forward to working with all participants to enhance the value of the league through the optimization of the event platform and the integration of resources, so that players, coaches and fans can share the passion and growth of football, and jointly inject new momentum into the future of Chinese football. ”

Compared with the Champions League in previous seasons, the 2025 season has more teams participating in the Champions League, and the competition is more intense. The relevant person in charge of the China Champions League said that this year's China Champions League has increased by one division compared with the past, and the number of teams participating in the main matches of the China Champions League has increased, and the total number of games has increased. The regional play-offs have been added, and the regional play-offs will be home and away; The play-offs of the finals also implement a home-and-away double-elimination system, in order to avoid the chance of some games as much as possible.

This year's Champions League will be played from the beginning of April to the end of November. The promotion places are more competitive than before, with 3.5 places, with the fourth place in the Champions League playing a play-off against the Under-21 champions for a place in the second division.

It is understood that the broadcast quality of this year's Champions League games will also be greatly improved, with the increase of each game to four cameras, and the championship and runner-up finals will strive to reach the broadcast level of the Chinese Super League. "This year, we also have a focus on increasing the number of spectators, and will study the addition of image ambassadors of the Champions League, increase the influence of the competition area, let sports drive the development of local culture, tourism and catering industry in the competition area, let the China Champions League serve the local economic development, and promote local consumption in the competition area through sports." At present, the Chinese Football Association is doing a social football system of 100 cities, 1000 counties and 10,000 villages (communities), not only to build the Champions League at this level, but also to promote the development of various provincial leagues through the Champions League. ”

In the 2025 season, Guangdong will have six teams participating in the Chinese Championship, namely Guangzhou United Macao Sports Association, Guangzhou Yuegao, Guangdong Shudihong, Shenzhen Jixiang, Wuchuan Youth and Wuhua Huajing Team. In 2024, the Guangzhou United Macao Sports Team, which won the Guangzhou League Championship with an undefeated record, was drawn to Group G of the Guangdong Sanshui Division, and Winnie, chairman of the Guangzhou United Australia Sports Club, who went to Sanshui to participate in the draw of the Chinese Championship, said: "The Sanshui Division where the team is located is about to start on April 12, for us the first thing is to do our best, the current team is to practice five times a week according to the plan, and at the same time warm up with the stronger teams every week, the club invited a professional coach as the head coach, hoping that the team will first be promoted from the regional competition, Step by step, I hope to achieve the goal of Chong B. ”

The Wuhan United Town team, which participated in the Chinese Champions League for the second time, was in Group I of the Jiangxi Dingnan Division this year. "In fact, there are several strong teams in each division, and what we have to do is to play every game well, one level at a time." Yang Huikang, general manager of Wuhan Lianzhen Club, said, "This year's Champions League has increased from 64 teams to 70 teams, the chance is relatively large, every ball is a key battle, and no team can be underestimated. ”

This time Yang Huikang rushed from Wuhan to Foshan Sanshui to participate in the Champions League draw, he believes that the strength of the Champions League is gradually rising, "I think the gap between the Champions League and the League B is not very big, I have participated in different levels of the league before, in recent years, the participation and enthusiasm of the Champions League has increased year by year, and the teams that can stand out in the Champions League have a certain competitiveness in the professional league." ”

As Yang Huikang said, as the base of the Chinese Football League, in recent years, from the Chinese Champions League out of a lot of Chinese Super League, Chinese A, Chinese B teams, this season's Chinese Super League promotion Ma Yunnan Yukun, as well as the Chinese Football League Chongqing Tongliang Dragon, Guangzhou Leopard, Shenzhen Youth, Dalian Kuncheng, Shaanxi United and other teams have made the Champions League all walks of life see the possibility of climbing the pyramid step by step.