The establishment of A3 League owes much to the enthusiasm of Japanese sponsors. In March 2002, this organization called "Trilateral Alliance Meeting of China, Japan and Korea" held a meeting in Osaka, Japan. During the dinner, the boss of Japan Sanyo Group was very close to Kawasaki Saburo, then chairman of Japan Professional League, and proposed that the company would invest 654.38 billion yen (equivalent to nearly 8 million US dollars at that time) in the next three years to establish the Trilateral League Championship among China, Japan and South Korea, which is now A3 League. The head of the three-nation alliance made a decision at that time and accepted Sanyo's suggestion. After the meeting, the heads of the three parties immediately officially announced the news, saying that the competition will be officially held in 2003. Agree on the champion of the three-nation league and a team recommended by the host country (there is no standard at first, but later it is determined to be the national cup champion or the second place in the league), so that four teams will participate in the A3 league tournament held in the same place every year, and the four teams will adopt a single round robin system, and the team with the first points will be the champion.
Under the unified management of the three East Asian countries, A3 League is hosted by Chinese Super League (C League), Japanese J League and Korean K League in turn. Since it was first hosted by Japan in 2003, it has been held once a year in the order of Japan/China/South Korea, and has been held for four times so far. This year, with the strong recommendation of China Football Association, the host of the 5th A3 League settled in Jinan.