SHANGHAI, 25 Apr 2015 (AFP) - Levy was in a group of four players including England's David Howell and China's Wu Ashun and Li Haotong finishing the round with eight under overall at the par 72 Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.
"It was the perfect start for me, but after that I got a little bit nervous, because I haven't played well for three months now so I haven't been in this position for a while," Levy said, according to information released by the organisers.
"I'm just really happy to be playing some good golf again, that's more important than me worrying about winning the trophy again," he added.
The quartet of leaders was followed by another group of four on six under, including Scotland's Richie Ramsay, Thailand's Prom Meesawat, England's Seve Benson and Sweden's Magnus Carlsson.
The Swede rocketed 37 places up the leaderboard with a seven-under 65, the best round of the day.
Quesne, meanwhile, had fired a blistering five under par on the second day of the tournament. But his four-over-par 76 on Saturday left him four shots behind the leaders.
Howell, who shot a four under on Saturday, said that he knew "what to expect today, and took advantage".
"I felt like there was a score to be had out there, and I adapted to the conditions much better than I did yesterday, when I struggled with the comparative softness of the course," he said.
Leading scores on Saturday after the third round of the Volvo China Open at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club, Shanghai, China (par 72):
208 - Alexander Levy (FRA) 69-68-71, Wu Ashun (CHN) 73-66-69, David Howell (ENG) 68-72-68, Li Haotong (CHN) 71-68-69
210 - Richie Ramsay (SCO) 72-68-70, Prom Meesawat (THA) 72-70-68, Magnus Carlsson (SWE) 73-72-65, Seve Benson (ENG) 75-69-66
211 - Thomas Pieters (BEL) 70-71-70, Julien Quesne (FRA) 69-67-76