Feng Xiaoting the first China Footballer of the Year

Guangzhou Evergrande's Feng Xiaoting won the inaugural China Footballer of the Year award on Sunday.

Also nominated were SIPG striker Wu Lei and the captain of China's national team, Zheng Zhi.

Feng, 32, helped Evergrande win their seventh consecutive title in the Chinese Super League this year. The 32-year-old was also the only striker to play all 10 World Cup qualifiers for China in the final round of the Asian zone.

English legend Michael Owen, winner of the 2001 Ballon d'Or, was enlisted to help present the award ceremony. It was organized by the Press and Publicity Department of the General Administration of Sport, the Chinese Football Association, and the China Sports Journalists' Association amid an official campaign to promote football in the country

Wang Shuang who scored five times and had six assists for the women's national team this year, was named the Best Women's Player, while Xu Genbao won the Best Coach award after the 73-year-old led Shanghai to three successive championships at China's National Games.