Jorge Campillo shot a second successive 67 to move alongside Jordan Gumberg in the lead of the 2026 Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO.
The Spaniard birdied four of his first seven holes on Moving Day and kept his card free of bogeys, with a fifth gain at the 12th enough to take him level with long-time leader Gumberg on 17 under par.
South Africa's Dylan Frittelli was one shot behind after a 66 and will again join the leaders in the final group on Sunday.
Gumberg had shot 64-66 to lead after each of the first two rounds and began his third with three straight birdies, but Campillo responded with his own run of three in successive holes from the fifth - a hole where the American dropped a shot as the gap was cut to one at the turn.
Gumberg also bogeyed the tenth to drop back alongside Campillo and both players birdied the par-five 12th before Gumberg's birdie at the 16th took him ahead once more.
Frittelli was closing up behind them, having birdied five of the first seven holes before his first dropped shot of the day at the eighth. Further gains at the friendly 12th and the 16th took him 16 under, one behind Campillo and two off the lead.
Home favourite Wenyi Ding was back in the clubhouse at 14 under after a bogey-free 66. He was soon joined on that score by Euan Walker and Thriston Lawrence after the Scot fired seven birdies in his 66 and Lawrence shot 68.
Gumberg bogeyed the 17th as he and Campillo ended the day tied at the top, just ahead of Frittelli.
Campillo said: "I played solid, I got off to a really good start and then the back nine, I think it's a little tougher. Bogey-free is always nice.
“It's quite exciting, I'm in the position you want to be. It's going to be a tough day.
"Dylan played really good today, also Jordan did, so it was a good match and hopefully tomorrow we can have the same match and I win.”
Gumberg said: “Today birdies didn’t come quite as easy but just kind of kept my head down again. Jorge and Dylan played great, they were kind of keeping me going a little bit.
“It was a good little battle out there and more to come tomorrow, I guess.
“Obviously you think about the what-ifs, there’s kind of no escaping that, but at the same time you’ve got to really just keep your head down and worry about yourself.
“Guys are going to make birdies. You might make birdies later in the round, they might not – it’s the give and take."
Frittelli said: "It was really good. I had a great time out there. Jorge and Jordan played really well. I was kind of just hanging on in the beginning.
"We all set a high tempo, I think, from the birdies in the beginning and then maybe a little lull in the middle of the round, but it was really fun, really comfortable.
"Hopefully we can continue that environment tomorrow and get in contention in the last few holes, and I'm sure we'll have fun if it's tight towards the end again. The plan is to just go low, make birdies."
Ding, Walker and Lawrence shared fourth place while DP World Tour debutant Bo Jin was one shot behind them on 13 under.
Teenage Chinese star Yanhan Zhou shot 68 for the third day in succession to lie 12 under, alongside Marcus Armitage, Daniel Rodrigues and Yuto Katsuragawa in a share of eighth.
