Ding had to beat Liu Shiwen in the China Open final to overtake her compatriot for the number one spot.
China’s LI Xiaoxia retains the number three spot, followed by teammate Zhu Yuling.
Kasumi Ishikawa who led Japan to an Olympic team bronze in Rio, overtook Feng Tianwei to settle for the fifth place.
Reigning Olympic and world champion Ma Long continued to stand on the summit of international table tennis for a 49th month.
19-year-old Fan Zhendong, who will be fighting for his first major world title in Germany next month, trails Ma for the number two place.
Xu and London 2012 Olympic champion Zhang Jike retained the third and fourth place respectively for China.