'The Rocket' O'Sullivan discovered his first opponent in Thursday's draw, with He qualifying to play at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre after beating England's Jack Lisowski on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, four-time champion John Higgins was handed an enticing clash with two-time finalist Ali Carter and could face O'Sullivan in the second round.
World number one Judd Trump plays Gary Wilson and Mark Selby is up against Jak Jones in other notable matches.
Last season's world champion Zhao Xintong will start his title defence against Liam Highfield, who progressed through qualifying.
First-round matches will be played between Saturday, April 18th and Thursday, April 23rd.
2026 World Snooker Championship first-round draw:
Zhao Xintong (1) v Liam Highfield
Ding Junhui (16) v David Gilbert
Xiao Guodong (9) v Zhou Yuelong
Shaun Murphy (8) v Fan Zhengyi
John Higgins (5) v Ali Carter
Ronnie O'Sullivan (12) v He Guoqiang
Chris Wakelin (13) v Liam Pullen
Neil Robertson (4) v Pang Junxu
Kyren Wilson (3) v Stan Moody
Mark Allen (14) v Zhang Anda
Barry Hawkins (11) v Matthew Stevens
Mark Williams (6) v Antoni Kowalski
Mark Selby (7) v Jak Jones
Wu Yize (10) v Lei Peifan
Si Jiahui (15) v Hossein Vafaei
Judd Trump (2) v Gary Wilson