| Champ: |  Bethanie Mattek-Sands  Lucie Šafářová |
| Runner: |  Caroline Garcia Kristina Mladenovic |
| Score: | 6−4, 6−4 |
| Before Name: | China Open – Women's doubles |
| After Name: | China Open – Women's doubles |
See main article: 2016 China Open (tennis). Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza were the defending champions, but chose not to participate together. Hingis played alongside CoCo Vandeweghe, but lost in the second round to Julia Görges and Karolína Plíšková. Mirza teamed up with Barbora Strýcová, but lost in the second round to Gabriela Dabrowski and María José Martínez Sánchez.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová won the title, defeating Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the final, 6−4, 6−4.
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.