The fourth-seeded Chen stretched his winning streak to 16 matches to clinch his first world title.
“Mentally, I was very strong for today's match,” Chen said.
“I did not let Taufik play to his strength, which is to take the net. I did not allow Taufik to play his game, that's why I managed to control the play.”
Chen, the 2009 runner-up, has often been in the shadow of fellow Chinese and three-time world champion Lin Dan but his victory could herald a changing of the guard.
China is still on course for a sweep of the finals. In women's singles, seventh-seeded Lin Wang defeated third-seeded Wang Xin 21-11, 19-21, 21-13.
In mixed doubles, Zheng Bo and Ma Jin defeated He Hanbin and Yu Yang 21-14, 21-10, in an all-Chinese final.
Chen jumped to a 7-0 lead in the first set as 2004 Olympic champion Hidayat made many unforced errors.
Hidayat cut the deficit to 13-9 but Chen kept putting the Indonesian on the back foot while playing more solidly.
Hidayat never led in the second set with Chen going ahead 11-6 with a net kill.
Hidayat hit a smash to come back at 12-10 and keep his hopes alive. Chen slammed a jump smash for 17-10 before converting his fourth match point when a forehand from Hidayat went long.
“I made too many mistakes,” Hidayat said.
“Chen controlled my game today. It was hard to win each point from the start until the end.”
Hidayat had also lost to Chen in the semifinals of last year's worlds in India.
“I'm so sad I lost today,” Hidayat said, “but Chen Jin is a very good player, he was powerful today.”
Chen hit 18 smash winners to only six for Hidayat. - AP
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