Australia started strongly against China, with Chelsea's Ellie Carpenter, Manchester City's Mary Fowler and Arsenal's Foord combining beautifully to give Australia the lead.
Carpenter dazzled with her pace, bursting down the left to latch onto a Fowler pass before passing back to the Manchester City forward, who cut the ball back to Foord to score with a powerful first-time strike.
"The second half was better, but the first half was disappointing," Matildas head coach Joe Montemurro told Channel 10.
"We scored a very good goal and I thought we were starting to find our rhythm, and then we just backed off.
"We just need to play higher, we need to be braver - but we got the result we wanted."
There was an exodus from the Women's Super League at the start of the Asian Cup, with 13 of Australia's 26-strong squad playing in the English domestic league.
The Champions League quarter-final between Arsenal and Chelsea is scheduled for 24 March, three days after the Asian Cup final, meaning both clubs could be without key players once travel and possible celebrations are factored in.
Australia went into the semi-final knowing they were the first country to qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil thanks to their 2-1 win against North Korea earlier this week.
