Matt Wallace and Nino Bertasio were right in the mix after day one of the Volvo China Open but neither could keep pace with home favourite Jin Daxing at Topwin Golf & Country Club.
Englishman Wallace had an eagle-birdie finish to set the clubhouse target at seven under but Jin joined him in eagling the eighth to sign for a bogey-free 64 and get to eight under.
Bertasio was also bogey-free in the afternoon as he signed for a 65 to sit a shot ahead of Swede Alexander Björk and Zimbabwean Scott Vincent.
Wallace had missed his last two cuts after winning the Hero Indian Open but looked more like himself in Beijing, while Italian Bertasio is searching for his first European Tour victory.
Jin is 1,426th in the Official World Golf Ranking and playing in just his eighth European Tour event, with only one made cut on his debut in 2012.
Björk arrived in Bejing off the back of a tie for third at last week's Trophée Hassan II and he made an eagle on the 15th and a birdie on the next, while Wallace had birdies on the 11th, 12th, 15th, 17th and a bogey on the 16th.
The duo then both birdied the 18th to share the lead at four under at the turn.
A Wallace birdie on the third from 20 feet handed him the solo lead but he bogeyed the next and was passed by Björk, who made a gain on the fifth from eight feet.
He was joined at the top by Jin who, after picking up shots on the tenth, 12th and 14th, made back-to-back gains on the 18th - courtesy of a monster putt - and first thanks to stunning approach.
Björk then birdied the eighth but with playing partner Wallace making an eagle after putting his second to five feet, the duo were tied at the top on six under.
A Wallace birdie on the ninth then saw him set the target.
"This is my first full year on Tour, I really like the country and I love the golf course and the weather was perfect today," he said. "I drove it well today which was key, setting it up nicely on the fairway so I can get it close on the green.
"I am swinging it great overall. I have been trying to shorten my swing for a while and that’s been my main swing thought coming into this week which helped massively."
Jin birdied the seventh and then made an eagle of his own as he chipped in on the eighth to leapfrog into top spot.
"I played really well today," he said. "I’m really happy with my form and I have to say I would give myself 100 marks for today’s round.
"I’ve been relaxed coming into this week because I don’t have too much expectation but I’ll just keep playing one stroke at a time, one day at a time and see how it goes for me."
Bertasio birdied the second, sixth and eighth but really came to life after the turn, making a gain on the tenth and almost driving the par four 11th to set up another birdie.
A brilliant tee-shot into the par three 13th set up another birdie and he made it four in five holes on the next.
"It was quite easy to be honest," said Bertasio. "I just hit them close all day. I had like four tap-ins for birdie and chances all day and I made a couple and here I am. It was stress-free golf.
"I hope I can keep my irons as sharp as I did today which makes it quite easy because the greens are quite slopey so if you’re far away from the pins it’s quite easy to two-putt. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing."
Vincent bogeyed the second but birdied the third, fourth and seventh before eagling the eighth to turn in 32. He made birdies on the 13th and 15th on the back nine.
Scotland's Scott Jamieson was bogey-free in his round, making gains on the 13th and 15th before matching Wallace's eagle-birdie finish to sit at five under alongside Jason Scrivener.
The Australian birdied three of his first four holes, bogeyed the fifth and then picked up shots on the seventh and 12th.
Japan's Hideto Tanihara won himself a Volvo XC90 as he made the 12th hole-in-one of the season on the 16th with an eight iron from 197 yards.
