World No. 3 Elina Svitolina was made to sweat but avenged her loss in Miami this year against China's Wang Yafan, needing two tie-breaks to move into the round of 16 with a straight-sets 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1) victory, reports Xinhua news agency.
Svitolina will face the winner of another Round of 32 clash between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Sofia Kenin.
US Open champion Bianca Andreescu sealed her first victory at China Open after second-set struggle.
Canadian star Bianca Andreescu got her first China Open off to a winning start, taking down Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 and continuing her 14th win in a row since the Rogers Cup in August.
Up next for the 19-year-old will be her US Open quarterfinal rival Elise Mertens, who knocked out Croatian Petra Martic 6-2, 6-3.
In the men's event, World No. 6 Alexander Zverev had a much easier time against No. 46 Frances Tiafoe, winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
Wildcard local player Zhang Zhizhen marked his first China Open win to advance to the second round as he registered a hard-fought victory over World No. 34 Kyle Edmund of Britain 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5). In the process, he became the second Chinese player to win a home game at China Open after Zhang Ze's win in 2012.
( With inputs from IANS )