Despite missing a host of established players, Australia delivered a warning to the rest of the region in the lead-up to the Asian Cup by brushing aside a muddled China 2-0 in Guangzhou.

Well-conceived first half goals to 22-year-old Brett Holman and Mark Bresciano gave the Socceroos a commanding position they never relinquished in the friendly clash, snuffing out a furious Chinese resurgence after half-time that made their insipid early play all the more puzzling.

Without Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton and Vince Grella to name but three, Australian coach Graham Arnold gave first caps to midfielder Carl Valeri and defender Shane Stefanutto, with Valeri taking up Grella's pivotal central holding role in a 3-4-3 formation.

Both players acquitted themselves ably, but it was Holman and Bresciano, with conspicuous help from skipper Mark Viduka, who made a thorough mess of the Chinese early on to put Australia on confident footing ahead of the Asian Cup in July.

"In the first half we played very well, we were very fresh, we attacked very well, controlling the ball in the middle of the park and then linking up with myself in the centre," Viduka said.

"China came at us after the break and they really dominated the second half, it was very difficult for us but we got through it.

"We're going to the Asian Cup to win it, we're ranked No.1 in Asia, and if we have our best side together on the field we'll be very confident of winning the tournament."

The locals had named what looked on paper to be a strong starting 11, captained by Charlton striker Zheng Zhi.

However the troubled state of the nation's football, which saw head coach Zhu Guanghu physically attacked when leaving a league fixture last week, was laid bare by a Socceroos side that had clearly benefited from a four-day training camp in Hong Kong.

Viduka had a pair of stinging shots parried by 'keeper Li Leilei inside six minutes and a cleared attacking free-kick from Zheng allowed Bresciano to create the first goal in the eighth.

Eluding the attention of Sun Jihai, Bresciano tore past the Chinese defence so comprehensively that an unmarked Holman was allowed to slightly scuff his shot into the net.

The lead was doubled on 28 minutes when Bresciano nipped in to steal the ball from the Chinese defence, take a pair of princely touches then slide a diagonal drive beyond Leilei.

China managed only a pair of woefully off target attempts at goal and the visitors' sole cause for complaint at the half was a poor offside decision that denied Holman the chance for a second when through on goal.

Three Chinese substitutions were made either side of halftime and the changes were allied to a greatly improved level of aggression that pushed Australia back into their own half for much of the final 45 minutes.

Mark Schwarzer was forced into a pair of fine saves, the first from a driven Zheng free-kick on 52 minutes and the second when substitute Han Peng shot towards the near post after Zheng's 65th minute run and cut-back.

China's fire dimmed towards the end in the face of diligent Socceroos defending, leaving the Australians free to empty their bench.

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