Chawrasia added an even par 72 to his first round 71 to get to one-under 143 and was tied 53rd.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (74-71) and former winner of the Volvo China Open Jeev Milkha Singh (73-72) missed the cut by two shots.
Chawrasia had a very eventful round with four birdies and four bogeys as he slipped in the middle of the round with back-to-back bogeys on eighth and ninth, while playing with Spain's Pablo Larrazabal, who shot a six-under 66 to move into a three-shot sole lead at the halfway stage.
Chawrasia, playing his first event since the sensational seven-shot win at the Hero Indian Open, said, "I am hitting it straight and finding good number of greens, too, but my putting has not been very good. I need to work on that over the weekend."