Defending champion in singles was Tomáš Berdych , who took part in the Tokyo tournament this year. In this year's final, Novak Đoković won in straight sets against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga . This was his fourth season and 32nd career title; Đoković won for the third time in Beijing and thus set Michael Chang's tournament record . In doubles, Michaël Llodra and Nenad Zimonjić were the defending champions, but they did not take part in the tournament this year. Zimonjić played together with Berdych in Tokyo. At this year's tournament, the twins Bob and Mike Bryan won the title with a final victory over Carlos Berlocq and Denis Istomin . They also won for the third time in Beijing and became the sole record winners in doubles. It was Mike Bryan's 84th title, breaking Todd Woodbridge's record for most career titles in doubles.
The field of participants in the individual competition consisted of 32 players, that of the doubles competition consisted of 16 pairs.
The qualification took place from September 27 to 28, 2012. Four qualifying places were played, which entitle them to participate in the main draw of the tournament.
At the China Open 2012 the following prize money and world ranking points were paid out or credited for reaching the respective round. Players who entered the main field from qualification received the specified qualification points in addition to those for reaching the respective round. Otherwise the amounts were not to be understood as cumulative. The amounts for the double competition were per player.