Lucas Bjerregaard and compatriot Ian Poulter also kept pace with four-under 66s and remain one and two shots behind the world No. 7 respectively, with both briefly claiming an individual lead during the course of the second round.
Thursday leader Lu Wei-chih picked up just one shot, leaving him tied with Poulter for third, while Matt Ford was one of the day's biggest climbers as his round of five under saw him shoot up 32 places.
Read on for a closer look at how Friday's action panned out, but first here's how the leaderboard stands after two days of play in Hong Kong:
| # | Player | To Par | Friday Score |
| 1 | Justin Rose | -9 | 66 |
| 2 | Lucas Bjerregaard | -8 | 66 |
| T3 | Ian Poulter | -7 | 66 |
| T3 | Lu Wei-chih | -7 | 69 |
| T5 | Matt Ford | -6 | 65 |
| T5 | Anirban Lahiri | -6 | 67 |
| T5 | Y. |