After losing against Mark Selby 1–6 at the Masters and Jamie Cope 3–5 at the Welsh Open, Ding returned to form, scoring nine century breaks on his way to the final of the China Open. He lost to Mark Williams 6–10 despite leading 5–4 at the end of first session. At the World Championship, Ding defeated Stuart Pettman 10–1 in the first round. He lost 10–13 against Shaun Murphy in the second round. Ding ended the season ranked world number five, an increase of eight places from the previous season.