The three Chinese players on the tour were invited to play as wild-cards, rather than qualify the usual way.
Ding Junhui was one of them, and he won the tournament, but as he entered as a wild-card, he received no prize money nor ranking points.
[1] The last edition of the tournament in 2019 took place at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Chaoyang District, Beijing in early April, and it was usually the last ranking event before the World Championship.
The 2020 edition was scheduled to take place, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled: the subsequent restrictions meant it was not staged through 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Despite the COVID restrictions ending in China, the tournament has not been restored to the calendar, with new events in Wuhan and Xi'an being staged in its place.