A "sudden" rule change revealed by the Chinese FA states Chinese football clubs "must pay a tax of 100% on transfer fees for foreign players in the next window," according to Cameron Wilson of WILD EAST FOOTBALL. According to the edict, clubs "must match the transfer fee paid for a foreign player with a payment of equal value to the CFA’s development fund" which goes toward "The development of youth football, supporting community football and public welfare projects involving football." The rule will only apply to clubs that are "loss-making" -- but with all Chinese Super League clubs "nowhere near profitable," the new policy will have a "very significant impact on the Chinese transfer market." Government "displeasure over astronomical transfer fees lavished by CSL clubs on top footballing stars has been growing over the past 18 months" and at the start of this year, a new policy called for CSL clubs to cease "irrational spending" amid fears that transfer deals were being used as a "means to siphon cash out of China." In another rule change, the CFA said that from the start of the '18 season, clubs must use the same amount of foreign and U23 players in a match. The announcement gave no other details about its "exact implementation" (WILD EAST FOOTBALL, 5/25).