Bernd Wiesberger turned in 35 to see his lead cut to two shots as the leaderboard tightened up on day three of the Shenzhen International.
Half of the field had to complete their second rounds on Saturday after storms on days one and two but nobody could reduce the Austrian's four-shot overnight advantage heading into round three.
A hole-in-one from Grégory Bourdy helped the Frenchman catch and pass Wiesberger at one stage but birdies on the seventh and ninth moved the 31 year old to 13 under and gave him a two-shot cushion.
South African duo Dean Burmester and Dylan Frittelli were then at ten under alongside Englishman Ross Fisher and clubhouse leader Alexnader Levy, who fired a superb 64.
Fisher had made five birdies upon the resumption as he signed for a second-round 65 and a 15-footer on the second had him at nine under, with playing partner Bourdy reaching the same mark after smartly getting up and down for birdie.
The gap was soon down to one in spectacular fashion as Bourdy's tee-shot on the third took two bounces and rolled into the middle of the cup for the second hole-in-one of the day - and 13th of the season - after Mikko Korhonen had earlier made one on the 16th.
Bourdy gave a shot back after a poor tee-shot and chip on the fifth but an excellent approach to the sixth moved him back to 11 under.
He was not the only man dialled in with his irons and after a birdie on the second and bogey on third, Burmerster made a hat-trick of gains courtesy of some stunning iron play, with his approach to the fourth landing within tap-in range.
The par four fifth hole is one of the toughest on the European Tour all season and after failing to reach the green in two, Wiesberger dropped his first shot of the day.
Bourdy then produced another excellent iron into the seventh and we had a new leader.
Fisher had been quietly going about his business and when he holed an eight-footer on the same hole, he was at ten under alongside Burmester.
Wiesberger then found his range on the seventh, holing a ten-footer for birdie, and when Bourdy failed to get up and down from a bunker ahead on the eighth, the lead had changed hands again.
Wiesberger took advantage of the par five ninth to extend his lead to two shots and playing partner Frittelli made his second birdie of the day to join the group at ten under.
Levy is a specialist at Genzon Golf Club, holding the course record and winning the Volvo China Open when it was held here in 2014.
The Frenchman went birdie-bogey on the second and third but then added further gains on the fifth, sixth, ninth, tenth, 11th and 13th. An eagle on the 17th then handed him the lowest round of the week and the clubhouse lead.
Brett Rumford had birdies on the second, seventh, ninth and 13th to get to nine under alongside Bubba Watson, who had a single gain on the ninth.
