The 35-year-old, whose world ranking has fallen to seven as he approaches the latter stages of his career, went down in the quarter-finals to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long in a 70-minute thriller.
The unseeded Ng defeated seventh-seeded Chong Wei 21-12, 15-21, 21-19 to surge into Saturday’s semi-finals in Fuzhou.
It is the first time in six attempts that Ng has beaten Chong Wei.
Ng, ninth in the world, will play world number one and top seed Viktor Axelsen after the formidable Dane beat Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-17, 21-14.
Chong Wei’s exit, coupled with the shock first-round defeat of Chinese star Lin earlier in the week, is more evidence that the careers of two of badminton’s all-time greats are reaching their end.