Agree with the above, just get three separate cancellable hotel bookings for the visa application, and then ditch them once the visa is issued and get the triple rooms booked as needed. You don't need to stay in the hotel you had the reservation for your visa application.

Whilst three names do not need to be on the hotel booking, just make sure that when you check into the hotel they ask for all three travellers passports and register you, having a gap in your registered overnight stays can cause issues for future visits or visa applications.

From my experience there is no issue at all with guests of the same sex sharing a room in China, I would wager that for some companies they would expect staff travelling on business to share a room, so no need to overthink this point.