Aryna Sabalenka overcame home favourite Zheng Qinwen 6-3 5-7 6-3 to claim a third straight crown at the Wuhan Open.
US Open champion Sabalenka has an immaculate record at the WTA 1000 event, where she extended her dominance on Sunday.
The showdown was a rematch of this year's Australian Open final, in which Sabalenka also came out on top.
She is now unbeaten in four matches against Zheng, this year's Olympic champion.
Having required just 38 minutes to take the first set, Sabalenka was pegged back in the second, eventually succumbing after saving four break points.
Yet the Belarusian regained the impetus in the decider, swiftly taking a double-break lead and hardly looking back from there.
Data Debrief: Queen of Wuhan does the three-peat
What a year it has been for Sabalenka, and after previously winning in Wuhan in 2018 and 2019, the world number two completed a hat-trick of trophies in style. She has played 17 times at the tournament and is yet to lose a match.
Sabalenka, who has won four trophies this year, is the second player, after Serena Williams at Miami (2013 to 2015), to win a WTA 1000 event in three consecutive editions of the tournament.
China is something of a home away from home for the 26-year-old, too. She is now the player to have won the most WTA-level titles on Chinese soil in the Open Era (five).
Meanwhile, Sabalenka and world number one Iga Swiatek are the pair with the most combined wins at WTA 1000 events (58) in a single season, surpassing Williams and Maria Sharapova in 2013 (57).
Retiring Nadal staving off emotions until Davis Cup campaign is over
Rafael Nadal will not let his emotions get the better of him as he focuses on helping Spain win the Davis Cup Finals.
The tournament takes place in Malaga this week, and will mark the end of Nadal's glittering career.
Nadal, a 22-time grand slam champion, confirmed his retirement in October.
But the 38-year-old made it clear he is not treating the Davis Cup as a farewell tour.
"If I am on court, hopefully not, no, because at the end I am not here for retiring," he said when asked if he would be emotional during the competition.
"I'm here to try to help the team.
"Then it's of course going to be my last week on the professional tour, but at the end, we are here in a teams competition.
"The most important thing here is to try to help the team and to stay all focused on what we have to do, which is to play tennis and do it very well.
"Because the rivals are going to be difficult, and the conditions are difficult, too. So then the emotions are going to be for the end.
"To play my last event in Spain, it's something that I am very happy with. Because I will never have the chance to thank enough everybody here in Spain, the support that I receive and the love that I felt."
Spain take on the Netherlands in the opening matches of the Finals on Tuesday, with Germany or Canada their potential semi-final opponents.
Though with Nadal having not played a competitive match since he lost to Novak Djokovic at the Olympics in August, Spain captain David Ferrer is unsure if he will be ready to feature against the Dutch.
"I have not decided the players that are going to play," Ferrer said.
Raducanu helps Great Britain reach Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals
Emma Raducanu set Great Britain on their way to the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals, as they knocked out defending champions Canada on Sunday.
Great Britain won both of their singles matches in Malaga, with Raducanu starting the day with a straight-sets victory.
She cruised through the first set before showing her mettle in the second to gain a 6-0 7-5 victory over Rebecca Marino in the early game.
Katie Boulter then secured their passage, holding off Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 42 minutes, without the need for a doubles decider.
Despite being the second lowest-ranked team, Great Britain are through to the final four without dropping a set in any of their singles matches so far.
They will face Slovakia, who beat 2022 runners-up Australia earlier on Sunday to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2013.
Like Great Britain, they triumphed in both of their singles matches, with Viktoria Hruncakova and Rebecca Sramkova coming out on top to secure the unassailable lead.
ATP Finals: Sinner 'surprised' himself with 2024 success
Jannik Sinner says he has surprised himself in 2024 after capping off his incredible year with a maiden ATP Finals title on Sunday.
Sinner beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Turin to claim his eighth title of the season and become the first Italian champion in the competition.
He is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the campaign.
The 23-year-old, who had already confirmed his year-end number-one ranking in October, was delighted to finish the season on a high.
"It's amazing, it's my first title in Italy, and it means so much to me," said Sinner. "It's something very special.
"I just tried to understand what works best for each opponent, trying to play my best possible tennis. That was the key.
"It was a very high-level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn't have played better, so I am very happy."
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after, he added: "Honestly, I have surprised myself the whole year at times, but in my mind, I know how much work I put in and how many sacrifices I have made to be in this position.
"I just try to play in the present moment."
Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, will go into 2025 as the world number four.
The 27-year-old, who also lost to Sinner in the US Open showpiece, remained upbeat despite his defeat, revelling in his success over the past 12 months instead.
"It's been a really good week for me. Obviously, it's a good way to end the year. It gives me a lot of confidence finishing the season like this," Fritz said.
"Something I told my team in 2023 when I hit world number five for a week right before I was defending the Indian Wells title, was 'That's crazy, I'm five in the world, look at all these guys ranked behind me that are probably better than me'.
"Back then I was five, but I didn't feel like I was five. Now I'm ranked where I'm at. I feel like I belong.
"It's a different feeling. It's been a great year. That gives me a lot of confidence to have that belief. That's a huge part of having the big results. The goal I set for myself at the start of the year was to finish top five."
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