Ighalo finished off a beautiful team play in the 24th minute to hand his side a 1-0 lead.
But a second half header from Graziano Pelle for Shandong Luneng and an owngoal from Nemanja Pejcinovic handed Changchun Yatai their seventh defeat of the season.
The 29 year old forward had a chance to double his side’s lead in the 34th minute but his goal bound strike was cleared off the line by a defender.
In the second half, Shandong Luneng responded swiftly and were level in the 47th minute through Graziano Pelle heading in a cross from Diego Tardeli.
The Italian wasted a huge chance six minutes later as his header crashed the crossbar.
In the 67th minute, Changchun Yatai’s Pejcinovic diverted Tardelli’s cross past his own goalkeeper.
Changchun Yatai are now 13th in the CSL table with 14 points while Shandong Luneng moved up to the summit of the log.
Ighalo and his teammates will face Tianjin Quanjin in their next game on the 29th of July.