The Czech served six aces -- mirrored by her teenage opponent's six double faults -- to close out the match 6-3, 6-1.
Kvitova won the inaugural Wuhan Open in 2014, but was bundled out in the third round last year by Italian Roberta Vinci.
The 26-year-old reached the semi finals at the Rio Olympics, losing to eventual gold medallist Monica Puig, but is currently ranked at number 16 -- her lowest ranking in five years.
Kazakh Yulia Putintseva is also through to the second round, after Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia -- who defeated third-seeded Garbine Muguruza in the second round of the US Open earlier this month -- retired in the second set of their first round match.