KUALA LUMPUR - China captain Zheng Zhi hopes to secure a move back to Europe after the Asian Cup following his eye-catching stint at Charlton Athletic.

Zheng Zhi of Charlton United Footbal Club makes a break for the Sheffield United Football Club goal during a Premiership match at The Valley Football Ground, 21st April.[AFP]

Zheng drew praise for his performances including a goal-scoring full debut against Newcastle United, but returned to Shandong Luneng when Charlton were relegated from the English Premiership last season.

"I am hoping to move back to Europe again and right now, my agent is trying to secure a deal for me," he said.

"But for sure, the Asian Cup is a big chance to make an impression and to win another move to Europe."

Zheng, a powerful and incisive playmaker, said his experiences in the English Premier League would also boost China's chances of landing a first regional title.

"I enjoyed playing at Charlton, I benefited a lot from it and I hope that the experience I gained from playing there can help my national team at the Asian Cup," he told the official Asian Cup website.

"The higher quality of football, the physical contact, the way that we prepared for matches -- there was so much that was different about playing in English football."

Zheng is one of several Chinese players with European experience including Manchester City's Sun Jihai, Manchester United forward Dong Fangzhuo, Sheffield United's Li Tie and Energie Cottbus midfielder Shao Jiayi.

Defenders Du Wei and Sun Xiang have had loan spells at Glasgow Celtic and PSV Eindhoven respectively.

Zheng was part of the team that reached the 2004 Asian Cup final in Beijing and said their first match, against co-hosts and lowest ranked team Malaysia on Tuesday, was not to be taken lightly.

"Of course, there was a lot of pressure for us to do well as the hosts in 2004 but being the home side also gave us many advantages then," he said.

"This time we have to meet the hosts in the opening match and that could be a very difficult test for us.

"We got a lot of confidence from the support of our fans back then, but now we are playing away from home and we will need to put in a greater effort to emulate that performance in China."

China will also face Iran and Uzbekistan in Group C.