The pair came from a set down to defeat Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-5 in the doubles draw of the ATP 500 event. Zhang and Zhou saved the only break point they faced during the contest and will next face either top seeds Guido Andreozzi/Manuel Guinard or Sander Arends/David Pel in the second round.
Meanwhile in Tokyo, two seeded teams strengthened their Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open.
Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, currently fifth in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, edged past home pairing Shintaro Mochizuki and S Watanabe 7-6(1), 7-6(2).
Ninth-ranked Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti also advanced, recovering from a first-set deficit to beat Jean-Julien Rojer and Theodore Winegar 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.
On Wednesday in Beijing, Alexander Bublik and local favourite Shang Juncheng had also progressed after a thrilling 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 win over Francisco Cerundolo and Arthur Rinderknech. The wild-card duo saved seven of nine break points to set up a quarter-final clash against either fourth seeds Sadio Doumbia/Fabien Reboul or Argentine qualifiers Maximo Gonzalez/Andres Molteni.
The doubles action continues at both Asian ATP 500 events as players battle for ranking points and places at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.