The 29-year-old shot a closing round of 71 at the challenging Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club to finish on nine under par for the week – one shot ahead of Howell, who missed an eight foot par putt on the last which would have forced a play-off.
Wu, who primarily plies his trade on the Japan Golf Tour but now has full playing privileges in The Race to Dubai, becomes the third Chinese player to triumph on The European Tour, following in the footsteps of Liang Wen-chong (2007) and Zhang Wen-lei (2003).
Both Liang’s and Zhang’s victories came in Singapore, and following Li Hao-tong’s agonising near miss in last week’s Shenzhen International, Wu’s win will now see the 29 year old enter the history books.
Portugal’s lone competitor on the Tour, Ricardo Santos, failed to make the cut. A second round 73 was not enough for the Algarve-based player to make it into the weekend. He has slipped down the rankings and is now placed at 673.
Defending champion Alex Levy finished in a tie for third-place on seven under par alongside Thai ace Prom Meesawat and Argentine Emiliano Grillo, whose title challenge faltered with a double bogey at the par three 17th hole, where his tee shot found the water.
Aferwards, Wu Ashun said of his win: “It’s a wonderful day today. Everyone knew the course was playing very tough today, but I played very well today and I really enjoyed it.
“It’s been a wonderful week with wonderful weather, and I’d like to thank everybody for coming out and supporting me.
“Winning my national Open is very special, and I’m very excited about the rest of the season. I have many friends here with me this week, and they helped me a lot and encouraged me to play well.”
Runner-up David Howell admitted he had sights on glory, but it was not be.
“It’s obviously tough to take. I was in very good shape to win the tournament for most of the day, and didn’t get the job done. So it’s going to hurt for a while, but I didn’t do a lot wrong. I holed a lovely putt on 17 to save par to give myself every chance coming down the last. It felt like I was already in a play-off, because Ashun was in the clubhouse on nine under, so if I birdie the last I win the tournament, and if I make bogey I lose it. Unfortunately it was the latter.
“It’s obviously hugely disappointing to finish with a six, and I guess the crucial shot was the lay-up. To miss the fairway has cost me the chance to at least force a play-off, so I’ll probably be ruing that one for a while. I actually thought I’d hit a reasonable pitch, but it came up short then I rushed the first putt past, and left myself with too much to do. But that’s golf.”