According to previous reports, Beijing Ducks announced the addition of Zhou Qi and Chen Yingjun to their team.
In response, Chinese sports media figure @FuzhenghaoMVP posted his thoughts:
The registration process for Beijing Shougang is complete; they have officially claimed “restricted free agent” Zhou Qi and offered him a top-tier salary of 24 million over four years. Chen Yingjun has transferred to Beijing Shougang with two remaining years on his Class D contract from Guangzhou Long Lions. Additionally, Beijing Shougang must pay a substantial transfer fee to the Long Lions and a sincere development fee to Guangdong Southern Tigers.
Although player claiming and transfers are two different forms of joining a team, with varying degrees of say for the original club, both require a harmonious cooperation among three parties. Player claiming mainly depends on the personal will of the free agent, which team he is willing to be claimed by, but this premise still requires the original club to agree to let him become a free agent. Therefore, in the process of Zhou Qi joining Shougang, Zhou Qi had the upper hand. Beijing Shougang’s offer had to satisfy him first, then the cooperatively aligned Guangdong Southern Tigers could receive the agreed-upon development fee as per the confidentiality agreement.
As for transfers within a contract period, the original club has more say and can collect a considerable transfer fee. Players under contract need only report as required and continue fulfilling their obligations. However, to prevent the awkward situation where a club gains registration rights but the star player refuses to report, the acquiring club also needs to do the work of persuading the star. How exactly this persuasion is carried out depends on each club’s approach.