Chinese A League

Founded in 1999 as part of China's market-oriented reform of professional Go, the Chinese A League (Jia-A League) is the premier team competition in Chinese Weiqi and one of the most prestigious team leagues in the Go world. Teams sponsored by corporations and regional governments compete across a full season in a round-robin format, with the bottom teams relegated to the B League and top B League teams promoted. The league has served as a proving ground for virtually every top Chinese player of the modern era, including Ke Jie, Gu Li, and Chen Yaoye.