2012 China League One
The 2012 China League One was the ninth season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment. It began on March 17, 2012 and ended on October 28, 2012.
The size of the league has been expanded from 14 to 16 teams this season.
Team changes
Promotion and relegation
as the champion of 2011 season and Guangzhou R&F F.C. as runner-up had promoted to the 2012 Chinese Super League. They were replaced by Chengdu Blades F.C. and Shenzhen Ruby F.C., who had relegated from the 2011 Chinese Super League after finishing the season in the bottom two places of the table.Guizhou Zhicheng Toro F.C. had relegated to the 2012 China League Two after finishing the 2011 season in last place and lost play-off match against 2011 China League Two 3rd-placed team Fujian Smart Hero F.C.. Due to the league's expansion, three teams were admitted into the 2012 China League One. These were the two 2011 League Two promotion final winners, Harbin Yiteng F.C., Chongqing F.C., and the play-off winner, Fujian Smart Hero F.C..
Name changes
moved to the city of Hohhot and changed their name to Hohhot Dongjin in February 2012.Clubs
Stadiums and Locations
| Club | Head Coach | City | Stadium | Capacity | 2011 season |
| BIT FC |  Bian Lijun | Beijing | BIT Eastern Athletic Field | 5,000 | 13th |
| Beijing Baxy | Cao Xiandong Wang Tao | Beijing | Shijingshan Stadium | 20,000 | 11th |
| Chengdu Tiancheng R | Wang Baoshan | Chengdu | Shuangliu Sports Centre | 26,000 | CSL, 15th |
| Chongqing FC P | Zhao Changhong | Chongqing | Chongqing Olympic Sports Center | 58,680 | CL2, 2nd |
| Chongqing Lifan | Tang Yaodong | Chongqing | Fuling Stadium | 22,000 | 8th |
| Fujian Smart Hero P | Xu Hui | Fuzhou Jinjiang | Fuzhou Stadium Jinjiang Sports Center Stadium | 23,000 15,000 | CL2, 3rd |
| Guangdong Sunray Cave |  José Ricardo Rambo | Guangzhou | Guangdong Provincial People's Stadium Guangdong Olympic Stadium | 25,000 80,012 | 3rd |
| Harbin Yiteng P | Duan Xin | Harbin | Harbin International Conference Exhibition and Sports Center Harbin Institute of Technology Stadium | 50,000 20,000 | CL2, 1st |
| Shenyang Dongjin | Yang Yumin | Hohhot | Hohhot City Stadium | 60,000 | 5th |
| Hunan Billows | Zhang Xu | Changsha Yiyang | CSUFT East-Garden Stadium Yiyang Olympic Sports Park Stadium | 18,000 30,000 | 4th |
| Shanghai Tellace | Jiang Bingyao | Shanghai | Shanghai Stadium Jinshan Football Stadium | 65,000 30,000 | 9th |
| Shenyang Shenbei | Liu Zhicai | Shenyang | Shenyang Sport University Stadium | 12,000 | 6th |
| Shenzhen NEO Capital R |  Philippe Troussier | Shenzhen | Bao'an Stadium | 40,000 | CSL, 16th |
| Tianjin Songjiang | Hao Haitao | Tianjin | Tianjin Tuanbo Football Stadium | 30,320 | 12th |
| Wuhan Zall | Zheng Xiong | Wuhan | Xinhua Road Sports Center | 32,137 | 7th |
| Yanbian Quanyang Spring |  Cho Keung-Yeon | Longjing | Hailanjiang Stadium | 32,000 | 10th |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Hohhot Dongjin | Chen Bo | --- | Pre-season | N/A | Chen Bo | Pre-season |
| Chongqing Lifan | Liu Jingbiao | Sacked | Pre-season | N/A |  Lawrie McKinna | Pre-season |
| Shenyang Shenbei | Liu Zhicai | Sacked | Pre-season | N/A |  Arie Haan | Pre-season |
| Guangdong Sunray Cave | Cao Yang | Sacked | Pre-season | N/A |  Dragan Kokotović | Pre-season |
| Beijing Baxy | Cao Xiandong | Resigned | Pre-season | N/A | Cui Enlang | Pre-season |
| Guangdong Sunray Cave | Dragan Kokotović | Sacked | 27 March 2012 | 6th | Cao Yang | 27 March 2012 |
| Chongqing Lifan | Lawrie McKinna | Sacked | 14 April 2012 | 16th | Tang Yaodong | 19 April 2012 |
| Wuhan Zall | Jose Carlos de Oliveira | Sacked | 24 April 2012 | 8th | Zheng Xiong | 24 April 2012 |
| Shenyang Shenbei | Arie Haan | Resigned | 1 May 2012 | 14th | Li Zheng | 1 May 2012 |
| Yanbian Quanyang Spring | Zheng Xianglong | Sacked | 20 May 2012 | 14th | Jin Guangzhu | 20 May 2012 |
| Hohhot Dongjin | Chen Bo | Sacked | 22 May 2012 | 16th | Yang Yumin | 22 May 2012 |
| Yanbian Quanyang Spring | Jin Guangzhu | --- | 1 June 2012 | 13th | Cho Keung-Yeon | 1 June 2012 |
| Wuhan Zall | Zheng Xiong | --- | 14 June 2012 | 4th | Zheng Xiong | 14 June 2012 |
| Shenyang Shenbei | Li Zheng | Resigned | 18 June 2012 | 16th | Huang Yong | 18 June 2012 |
| Beijing Baxy | Cui Enlang | Sacked | 3 July 2012 | 14th | Gai Zengjun | 3 July 2012 |
| Chongqing FC | Zhao Faqing | Resigned | 5 July 2012 | 11th | Zhao Changhong | 5 July 2012 |
| Shenyang Shenbei | Huang Yong | Resigned | 10 July 2012 | 15th | Liu Zhicai | 10 July 2012 |
| Chengdu Tiancheng | Niu Hongli | Resigned | 24 July 2012 | 12th | Wang Baoshan | 24 July 2012 |
| Guangdong Sunray Cave | Cao Yang | Resigned | 28 July 2012 | 12th | José Ricardo Rambo | 29 July 2012 |
| Beijing Baxy | Gai Zengjun | Resigned | 3 August 2012 | 16th | Cao Xiandong Wang Tao | 3 August 2012 |
| Guangdong Sunray Cave | José Ricardo Rambo | As assistant coach | 30 August 2012 | 12th | Cao Yang | 30 August 2012 |
Foreign players
Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per CL1 team. A team could use three foreign players on the field each game. Players came from Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese Taipei were deemed as native players in CSL.- Foreign players who left their clubs after first half of the season.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Former Players* |
| BIT FC |  Lee In-Shik |  Matías Alonso | Walter Guglielmone | Martín Rodríguez |  Vicent Rodrigue |
| Beijing Baxy | Júnior Paulista |  Daniel Quaye |  Momar N'Diaye | Shin Eun-Seok |  Saša Mus |
| Chengdu Tiancheng |  Johnson Macaba | João Paulo | Valdo | William | Ygor de Souza |
| Chongqing FC |  Rafael Pérez |  Walter Julián Martínez |  Chris Killen | ||
| Chongqing Lifan |  Brendon Šantalab | Guto | Nei |  Nelson Cabrera | |
| Fujian Smart Hero |  Johnny Woodly |  Vlado Jeknić | Sylvano Comvalius | Park Jung-Soo | |
| Guangdong Sunray Cave | Dori | Jean Narde | Reinaldo | Mahama Awal | Josip Milardović |
| Harbin Yiteng | Million Butshiire | Adam Hughes | Rodrigo | Ricardo Steer |  Oleksandr Krutskevich |
| Hohhot Dongjin |  Luciano Olguín | Yovanny Arrechea | Lee Kil-Hoon | Song Tae-Lim | |
| Hunan Billows | Astor Henríquez | Emil Martínez | Erick Norales | Claudio Cardozo | |
| Shanghai Tellace | Bruno Camacho | Luis Carlos Cabezas | Ransford Addo | Samir Arzú | Didier Njewel |
| Shenyang Shenbei | José Duarte |  Dario Dabac | Vladimir Vujović |  Mustapha Allaoui | |
| Shenzhen NEO Capital | Leandro Guaita | Benjamin Gavanon |  Takashi Rakuyama | Babacar Gueye | Rony Flores |
| Tianjin Songjiang | Anderson |  Taavi Rähn |  Aleksander Rodić | Lee Se-In | |
| Wuhan Zall | Adiel | Vicente | Carlos Ceballos | Julio Gutiérrez | César Valoyes |
| Yanbian Quanyang Spring |  Ivan Božić | Stipe Lapić |  Soumaila Coulibaly | Hong Jin-Sub | Ronaille Calheira |
Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan players
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| Beijing Baxy |  Chen Hao-wei | |
| Guangdong Sunray Cave |  Chan Siu Ki | Leung Chun Pong |
| Shenzhen NEO Capital | Chen Po-liang |