Hangzhou Greentown was relegated from the Chinese Super League (CSL) after a 2-2 tie with Yanbian Fude in the last round on Sunday.
As Shijiazhuang Ever Bright was relegated to the second-tier league with one round to go, the other relegated team would come out of four possible teams including Hangzhou Greentown, Liaoning Whowin, Tianjin Teda and Changchun Yatai.
Hangzhou Greentown's Anselmo Ramon opened the scoring in the 31st minute, while Yoon Bit-Garam of Yanbian scored the equalizer twelve minutes later. Yanbian took the lead in the second half as Nikola Petkovic's left-foot shot went through the wall and into the net.
Although Denilson Gabionetta's penalty kick in the injury time helped Hangzhou Greentown to settle the game 2-2, a tie was not good enough to get the team out of the relegation zone.
While Hangzhou Greentown's other three competing opponents won the games and grabbed precious three points, thus Hangzhou Greentown was the second team to play in the second-tier league next season.
Changchun Yatai beat Shanghai Greenland 1-0 at home, Tianjian Teda beat Chongqing Lifan 2-1 and Liaoning Whowin beat Jiangsu Suning 1-0.
In other matches, Beijing Guoan beat Henan Jianye 3-1, Shanghai SIPG beat Hebei China Fortune 3-1, Shijiazhuang Ever Bright edged Guangzhou R&F 3-2, and Guangzhou Evergrand, who claimed their sixth straight league title with two rounds to go, smashed Shandong Luneng 4-0.