The world number three had not tasted competitive action since suffering an ankle injury at the Indonesia Open in July, a setback which forced him to miss last month's World Championships.

Shi, China's top ranked men's player, looked nowhere near his best as he was swept aside by compatriot Lu Guangzu, 21-5, 21-9.

"I think the match was a bit ugly but nonetheless it's a first step for me, I'm sure I'll get better," said the 23-year-old, who reached the World Championships final last year and was seeded third at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium in Changzhou.

"There wasn't any rally and the crowd was booing me. 

"Right now I'm slowly getting back to being fully fit. 

"The upcoming tournaments are important so I'll have to give my best."

Today featured first round matches in the bottom half of both the men's and women's draws.

Defending champion and seventh seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia progressed as he downed Japan's Kenta Nishimoto, 21-14, 19-21, 21-13.

Chinese Taipei's world number two Chou Tien-chen, the second seed, also advanced as he knocked out Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-12, 21-10.

There was a straightforward passage for Denmark's eighth seed Anders Antonsen, runner-up at last month's World Championships in Basel.

He was 2-0 up in the first game against Dutchman Mark Caljouw before his opponent retired.

In the women's draw, India's newly crowned world champion PV Sindhu kept up her good form as the fifth seed beat China's Li Xuerui, the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist, 21-18, 21-12.

Her eighth-seeded compatriot Saina Nehwal was a casualty, however, losing 21-10, 21-17 to Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

Second seed Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei eased past Soniia Cheah Su Ya of Malaysia 21-9, 21-16 and there was home cheer as China's third seed Chen Yufei beat Hong Kong's Deng Xuan 21-18, 21-9.

Second round matches will be played at the World Tour Super 1000 tournament tomorrow.