China international Qin Sheng has been severely punished by Shanghai Shenhua after a nasty, deliberate stamp on Axel Witsel.

Sheng was sent off following the incident, which took place during Shenhua's 1-1 draw with Tianjin Quanjian in the Chinese Super League on Saturday, incurring the wrath of his own club.

The midfielder has been fined £35,000, relegated to Shanghai's reserve team and could yet see his wages reduced by furious club president Wu Xiaohui.

Qin Sheng (centre) has been reprimanded by Shanghai Shenhua for a stamp on Axel Witsel

Witsel got up from the 24th-minute incident to score his side's equaliser late in the game

A Shenhua statement read: 'In the 24th minute, Greenland Shenhua player Qin Sheng deliberately stamped on the foot of his opponent in the box, and was shown a red card by the referee. His behaviuor was against sportsmanship.

'The club will see his attitude and follow-up performances, and decide whether to cut his annual salary.

'When purchasing competitive achievements, the club will not loosen its management over players. We will take this as a lesson and avoid incidents like this.'

Qin was ordered to make a public apology following his assault on the Belgium international - who is one of the star attractions in the expanding Chinese Super League and commands wages of £16million per season, or roughly £300,000 each week.

Qin retaliated to some apparent provocation from Witsel by standing on his left foot

The China international planted his studs down on the Belgian in the middle of the box

Witsel lets out a cry of pain and tumbles to the ground after being stamped on by Qin

Witsel's Tianjin team-mates point towards the incident, which wasn't missed by the referee

HE'S GOT PREVIOUS... Qin Sheng's stamp on Axel Witsel was not the first hot-headed moment of the midfielder's career. Back in 2013, playing in a CFA Cup final for Guangzhou Evergrande, he kicked Guizhou Renhe's striker Zlatan Muslimovic in the face causing a nasal fracture and forcing his opponent to return to Bosnia - his home country - for surgery. The same year, while on international duty for Chgina, Qin was sent off 13 minutes into a FRIENDLY against Holland for an outrageous tackle on Jonathan de Guzman. Advertisement

He wrote on one of his social media accounts: 'Exciting match but stupid foul.

'My personal behaviour affected the whole team. I want to apologise to the fans, club officials and coaches, as well as my pals fighting together on the pitch.

'As a professional player, I should not take such 'revenge' but respect the referee's decision.'

President Wu was less dismissive of the matter, however, saying: 'The extremely irrational behaviour of Qin Sheng has severely tarnished the image of this club, the football of Shanghai and even Chinese football.

'All the efforts made by others have gone down the drain because of him.

'Given Qin Sheng was shown a yellow card in the season opener, we intentionally warned him over his poor on-field behaviour before the game. However, our repeated warnings have not prevented this happening.

'I don't think he was just caught up in the heat of the moment. Instead, it's a flagrant violation of the club management.'

Despite playing with 10 men, Shenhua opened the scoring in the 74th minute through captain Giovanni Moreno. However, Witsel - having run off the pain off the stamp - scored Tianjin's equaliser 10 minutes later.