Imago
Ding become the first player to win back-to-back ranking events in the same season with his recent success in Shanghai and India but his hot streak nearly ended at this £625,000 ranking event in West China.
Breaks of 73, 52, 57, 93 and 73 had helped Ding build up a 5-2 to lead but then the nerves set in and Cao came back to 5-5 before a 63 finally sealed the deal for Ding.
There were some big shocks on the opening day though with Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy and defending champion Judd Trump all crashing out.
Alan McManus got the better of Trump in another 6-5 thriller; David Gilbert edged out Murphy 6-4 for; while Maguire was punished for an off-colour performance as he was defeated 6-3 by Kyren Wilson.
Big names like Mark Selby, Mark Williams and Neil Robertson all safely moved on though, while Barry Hawkins beat Jimmy White 6-2 in battle between two former world championship finalists.
Results
Rod Lawler 6-3 Aditya Mehta
Ding Junhui 6-5 Cao Yupeng
Fergal O'Brien 6-4 Ben Woollaston
Kyren Wilson 6-3 Stephen Maguire
Marco Fu 6-2 Adam Duffy
Xiao Guodong 6-2 Alfie Burden
Alan McManus 6-5 Judd Trump
Peter Lines 6-3 Mark King
Neil Robertson 6-4 Alex Davies
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Jimmy White
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-1 Zhang Anda
Zhao Xintong 6-2 Craig Steadman
James Wattana 6-5 Gary Wilson
David Gilbert 6-4 Shaun Murphy
Mark J Williams 6-2 Paul S Davison
Peter Ebdon 6-2 Jack Lisowski
Ryan Day 6-4 Mike Dunn
Mark Selby 6-0 Jamie Burnett
Joe Perry 6-5 Jamie Jones
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