Marcello Lippi's men missed the chance to go six points clear as they were frustrated by the team who currently sit directly below them in the standings at the Tianhe Stadium on Saturday.
 
Evergrande had won their last eight league games but dropped points for just the second time this season by failing to find a breakthrough against their early title rivals.
 
However, they remain 11 points ahead of third-placed Guizhou Renhe, who failed to beat Shanghai Shenhua on Saturday.
 
Syrian striker Firas Al Khatib put Shenhua ahead in the eighth minute of play, before doubling his and the visitors' tally from the penalty spot ten minutes later.
 
But Rafa Jorda pulled one back for the hosts in the 64th minute and Sun Jihai made it 2-2 in the last minute of normal time. 
 
Elsewhere, Frederic Kanoute continued his fine goalscoring form for Beijing Guoan, taking his tally to five goals in four games with a 10th-minute opener against Liaoning Whowin. 
 
Shao Jiayi and Joffre Guerron also both scored with less than ten minutes remaining before Zhang Xizhe converted an injury-time penalty as the hosts eased to a 4-0 victory at the Workers’ Stadium.
 
Changchun Yatai remain mired in the relegation zone despite a late goal from Li Xiaoting rescuing a point at home to Guangzhou R&F.
 
Yakubu netted two first-half goals for the visitors, after Zhang Xiaofei had opened the scoring in the 21st minute, before Li Xiaoting struck four minutes from time to make it 2-2. 
 
And another last-gasp goal helped Jiangsu Sainty to claim a narrow 2-1 victory over Hangzhou at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center.
 
Hangzhou took the lead just after half-time when Ren Hang turned the ball into his own net, but the hosts managed to come from behind to claim three points thanks to Aleksandar Jevtic's 62nd-minute effort and a goal from Hamdi Salihi deep into injury time.
 
Bottom side Tianjin Teda have now failed to win in five games following a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Dalian Aerbin in which Peter Utaka scored the game's only goal.
 
And Wuhan Zall drew 1-1 with Qingdao Jonoon at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, with Mei Fang scoring a 73rd-minute equaliser for the hosts. 
 
On Sunday, Shanhai SIPG ended a five-game losing streak with a 6-1 demolition of rivals Shanghai Shenxin at the Yuanshen Stadium.
 
Wu Lei netted a hat-trick and Lu Wenjun scored two as the visitors claimed just their third win of the season.