2005–2008

Originally, the event was sanctioned by four —the European, the Asian, and Sunshine Tours and the PGA Tour of Australasia— of the six constituent tours of International Federation of PGA Tours at that time. Invitations were issued to all players placed amongst the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). Also invited were players who had, during the calendar year preceding the event, captured at least one tournament title on a sanctioning tour, or had finished the preceding season amongst the top twenty in the European Tour's Race to Dubai (the Order of Merit standings through 2008) or amongst the top five in the Order of Merit standings of any of the other three sanctioning tours. Players who had finished first in the Order of Merit standings in any of three developmental tours—the Von Nida and Challenge Tours and the winter swing of the Sunshine Tour—were also invited. Finally, starting berths were also reserved for eight Chinese amateur and professional players to be selected by tournament organizers and sponsors, whether by qualifying tournament or not.

2009: Elevated to WGC status

The event became a World Golf Championship in 2009 on the European Tour. The field consists primarily of winners of the most important tournaments around the world since the previous WGC-HSBC Champions tournament. Each of the six member tours are allocated a certain number of tournaments from their tour (from 4 to 20), although these tournament must meet a minimum entry requirement. Co-sanctioned tournaments are assigned to one tour only.

The tournaments are ranked using the Official World Golf Ranking strength of field ("total event ranking"). Tournaments must have a minimum event ranking of 40. The ranking is based on the previous year's event ranking so that the list of qualifying events can be determined in advance. New events can be included if they are expected to have an event ranking of at least 40.

Further players gain entry through their position in the current seasons Order of Merit. Six players from China are selected while any player ranked in the world top 50 is also given an entry. If the field size is less than 78, further entries are selected from winners of additional tournaments not already considered, players ranked outside the world top 50, and the players further down the Order of Merit lists.

The tournament was the second event of the European Tour Final Series from 2013 to 2015.

Current qualifications

The current qualification categories are as follows:^[2]

1. Winners of the four major championships and The Players Championship
2. Winners of the four World Golf Championships
3. Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of two weeks prior the start of the event
4. Top 30 available players from the final FedEx Cup Points List (if less than 5 players are available, players from position 31 or lower will be selected to fill in)
5. Top 30 available players from the Race to Dubai Ranking as of one week prior the start of the event
6. Top 4 available players from the Asian Tour ad hoc qualifying ranking
7. Top 2 available players from the Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit as of one week prior the start of the event
8. Top 2 available players from the final PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit
9. Top 2 available players from the final Sunshine Tour Order of Merit
10. Six players from China
11. Alternates