The Chinese Super League will take a two-month break to accommodate this summer's World Cup finals, even though China have not qualified for the tournament.
With a significant number of China-based players scheduled to represent their nations in Russia, the CSL has scheduled a pause mid-season from May 20 to July 17.
The 2018 season will kick off on March 2 when defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande, under returning coach Fabio Cannavaro, will face newly promoted Dalian Yifan.
Guangzhou won the title last season under Luiz Felipe Scolari before the Brazilian opted to return home at the end of his contract, promoting the club to re-hire Cannavaro, who steered Tianjin Quanjian to third place last season.
Tianjin Quanjian, also under new management, will host last season's Chinese FA Cup winners Shanghai Shenhua as they step into the post-Carlos Tevez era.
The game will see Paulo Sousa lead the home side into his first CSL game as head coach since replacing Cannavaro.
Last season's runners-up Shanghai SIPG, who have also had a change at the helm with Vitor Pereira replacing Andre Villas-Boas, will meet Guangzhou R&F in their first game of the season and Javier Mascherano will make his debut for Hebei China Fortune against Uli Stielike's Tianjin Teda.
Chongqing Lifan will play Beijing Guoan, with the club from the capital at the centre of an intriguing case relating to former Villarreal striker Cedric Bakambu.
The Congolese forward has been training with the Chinese Super League side after apparently signing a five-year contract with the club, but the deal has yet to be confirmed due to issues relating to whether Beijing paid a €40 million transfer fee for the player or not.
Payments over ¥45m for foreign players -- about €5.8m -- are subject to a 100 percent levy imposed by Chinese football authorities.
Elsewhere, Shandong Luneng will take on Changchun Yatai, Guizhou Hengfeng will face Fabio Capello's Jiangsu Suning and Henan Jianye take on newly promoted Beijing Renhe.
The season will officially kick off with the Chinese Super Cup meeting between Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai Shenhua at Hongkou Stadium on Feb. 26 while the league campaign is scheduled to end on Nov. 11.