"I thought I did okay considering I hadn't played much the past couple of weeks. I think I can do better," Murray told reporters.
"There was some good stuff in there. With each match, I'll play better hopefully. No injuries. Felt fine. Just need matches now," the top seed added.
Murray will play the winner of the all-Russian clash between Andrey Kuznetsov and Konstantin Kravchuk in the next round.
Nadal, who won the China Open in 2005, won 79 percent of his first-serve points to breeze past the 34-year-old Lorenzi.
The 30-year-old Spaniard will next face compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas or French qualifier Adrian Mannarino.
Third seed Milos Raonic beat Germany's Florian Mayer 6-4 7-6(1) and the big-serving Canadian will meet either Argentina's Guido Pella or Tunisia's Malek Jaziri in the next round.
During a rain-hit day in Beijing, Germany's Alexander Zverev upset fourth seed Dominic Thiem 4-6 6-1 6-3 to advance to a second-round clash with American Jack Sock.
Defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic withdrew from the tournament due to an elbow injury.
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
