They lost in overtime to Russian club Amur Khabarovsk 5-4 after scraping back from a four-goal deficit in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), with it being the first time that players were being assessed by International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) officials.

"It was a very strong sign of the upside," said HC Kunlun Red Star  coach Ivano Zanatta, according to Associated Press.

"There's definitely signs of character, resilience and there’s more upside, no question."

The IIHF were in attendance to "evaluate the status of the team's preparations" for the Games over concerns of the quality of the Chinese team.

The United States and Canada, who between them have won the Olympic title 10 times, and Pyeongchang 2018 silver medallists Germany are in China's preliminary group.

There is no comment been made yet by the IIHF on which players will be eligible to play for China, with one of those likely to feature being Brandon Yip.

He played in 174 National Hockey League games in four seasons, primarily for Colorado Avalanche.

A total of 19 players on the Kunlun squad have Chinese nationality, but more could be naturalised before the Games, with players needing to reside in the country for two years to qualify for international play.

Kunlun is a proxy team for China in the KHL and is a base for naturalised players who grew up in Canada and the US.

It has only made the playoffs once since forming in 2016, and were knocked out in the opening round.

The Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20.