Lee, winner of four BWF Superseries tournaments this season, is going in search of his first world crown and took just 33 minutes to dispose of Viktor Axelsen in Copenhagen.
Axelsen had taken on the mantle of home favourite following Jan O Jorgensen's retirement with a knee injury in the third round, but was unable to cope with the world number one, who reached the final with a 21-9 21-7 win.
Lee has consistently lived in the shadow of great rival Lin Dan at major championships, but the Chinese ace's failure to qualify has presented the Malaysian with a chance to go all the way.
And Lee feels his form is improving as he prepares to contest his third-successive final on Sunday, which is also Independence Day - or Hari Merdeka - in his homeland.
"Yes I’ve got better with each match," he said. "I will try to be better again.
"I know my country really wants to have a World champion, and there is a lot of pressure. I will try to enjoy it."
Chen found himself carrying Chinese hopes following Lin's failure to make it to Denmark, and has lived up to his billing by making it all the way to the final.
The 25-year-old booked his place in the showpiece with a 21-16 22-20 win over Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.
In the women's draw, top seed Li Xuerui of China took just 31 minutes to see off Japan's Minatsu Mitani 21-8 21-14.
The victory sets up a final meeting with Spain's Carolina Marin - the last European standing since round three in the women's draw - after she beat India's Pusarla Venkata Sindhu 21-17 21-15.