2012 China Open – Men's singles

Tomáš Berdych was the defending champion, but chose to compete in the 2012 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships instead. Novak Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7–6(7–4), 6–2 in the final to win a third China Open title and improve to a 14–0 record.

Seeds
• # 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (champion)

• # 🇪🇸 David Ferrer (first round, retired because of a stomach virus)

• # 🇫🇷 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (final)

• # Marin Čilić (first round)

• # 🇫🇷 Richard Gasquet (second round)

• # 🇺🇦 Alexandr Dolgopolov (second round)

• # 🇩🇪 Tommy Haas (first round)

• # 🇪🇸 Fernando Verdasco (first round)

Seeds
• # 🇺🇸 Brian Baker (qualified)

• # 🇦🇺 Matthew Ebden (qualified)

• # 🇵🇱 Łukasz Kubot (first round)

• # Grega Žemlja (qualifying competition)

• # 🇷🇺 Alex Bogomolov Jr. (qualified)

• # 🇩🇪 Michael Berrer (qualified)

• # 🇺🇸 Donald Young (qualifying competition)

• # Jimmy Wang (first round)

Qualifiers
• # 🇺🇸 Brian Baker

• # 🇦🇺 Matthew Ebden

• # 🇩🇪 Michael Berrer

• # 🇷🇺 Alex Bogomolov Jr.