Kavita went down 1-5 to Li at the Foshan Gymnasium here. The Indian's only scoring punch of the bout came in the opening round in which the home favourite managed three.
Both the boxers failed to get on the scoresheet in the next two rounds.
In the final two minutes, Li managed to seal the issue in her favour by knocking off a couple of a points.
In the evening, five-time world champion woman boxer M C Mary Kom (51kg) will fight her semifinal bout against another Chinese Cancan Ren.
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