China has stunned Australia to win 2-1 in the women's Champions Trophy field hockey tournament in Amsterdam overnight.

A penalty corner conversion by Yi Bo Ma and a Ba Rong Fu field goal in the first eight minutes stung the Hockeyroos, who, despite Emily Halliday converting a penalty corner in the 16th minute, were unable to equalise.

Australia controlled much of the first half, missing a penalty corner opportunity a minute from the break when Angie Skirving's slap shot went wide of the post, and also dominated in the second stanza.

Donna-Lee Patrick had a chance to score with a backstick strike wide of the left post before her team failed to capitalise on four penalty corners in the last two minutes.

Three shots were held under the goalkeeper while Kobie McGurk's final shot went wide as the hooter sounded.

Australian coach Frank Murray expressed disappointment, saying his players had seen plenty of video footage of their opponents and had no excuses for being unprepared.

"Our players were taken by surprise in the first 10 minutes by the speed and strength of China," Murray said.

"We wasted far too many scoring opportunities and made miles too many unforced errors through the middle of the field."

Chinese counterpart Chang Back Kim said his team were improving with each match in the tournament and singled out his strikers for praise after previously roasting them over Saturday's 3-2 loss to Germany.

The defeat means Australia, with just two points from three matches, has little chance of making the finals on Sunday.

AFP