Japan continue to cruise in World Cup qualifying, Saudi Arabia and South Korea stumble
Koki Ogawa scored with a header in each half to move the Japanese onto 16 points from six games and further cement their place at the top of Group C.
The Iranians needed a Sardar Azmoun header to see off Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek in Group A while Son Heung-min was on target in Amman to ensure Group B leaders South Korea claimed a point in their clash with Palestine in Amman.
The top two finishers in each of Asia's three preliminary groups qualify for the World Cup and Japan are now on the verge of confirming their place at their eighth consecutive finals.
Japan had thrashed China 7-0 in their previous meeting in September and Moriyasu's side went ahead in the 39th minute when Ogawa powered his header from Takefusa Kubo's corner past Wang Dalei.
Six minutes into stoppage time the Japanese doubled their lead from another corner, with Ko Itakura diving in to apply the finishing touch after Koki Machida had flicked on Junya Ito's pass from the right.
Lin Liangming pulled one back for China three minutes after the restart but a second header from Ogawa six minutes later sealed another win for the Japanese.
Japan are now 10 points clear at the summit with second-placed Australia due to face Bahrain in Riffa later on Tuesday.
Indonesia pulled themselves into contention in Group C with a surprise victory over Saudi Arabia, with Marselino Ferdinan scoring twice to give Shin Tae-yong's team their first win of the campaign.
A 32nd-minute curling effort was followed by a flick over goalkeeper Ahmed Al-Kassar 12 minutes into the second half as Indonesia moved onto six points from six games, level with the Saudis.
In Group A, Uzbekistan bounced back from their loss on Thursday to Qatar to secure a narrow win over North Korea.
Abbosbek Fayzullaev's heavily deflected shot in the 44th minute gave the lead to Uzbekistan, who held on after Umarbek Eshmurodov was sent off and Yusupov saved Jong Il Gwan's late penalty.
Iran retained their three-point lead at the summit with Azmoun rescuing his team with a 76th-minute header after a Joel Kojo double had pulled Kyrgyzstan level following first-half goals from Mehdi Taremi and Saleh Hardani.
In Group B, leaders South Korea failed to win for the first time in five matches with Hong Myung-bo's side needing Son's 16th-minute strike to cancel out an early Zeid Qunbar opener for Palestine.
Qunbar pounced after a poor back-pass by Kim Min-jae but Son levelled soon after and the Koreans now have 14 points from six matches.