New Zealand had to settle for fourth after two disappointing games to end the championships at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.
China was a warm favourite, having played well all week and hammered New Zealand 11-2 in the semifinals. In the final, China had more shots on goal, 31-25, but Turkey won the statistic that mattered.
Hakan Salt scored the opening goal of the game for Turkey near the end of the first period and team-mate Yusuf Kars made it 2-0 after 30 minutes.
China replied when Li Ou scored near the end of the second period but it could not find the equaliser and Turkey came away with the surprise win. Turkey had squeaked by Iceland 3-2 in the semifinal.
In the playoff for third and fourth, New Zealand was beaten 10-0 by Iceland.
New Zealand had started all right and the match was scoreless at the first break, but Iceland got on top, rolling in five goals in the second period and another five in the final 20 minutes.
It had nearly three times as many shots on goal as New Zealand which used three goaltenders to try to stem the goals.
In the playoff for fifth and sixth, Israel beat Bulgaria 3-2 while Chinese-Taipei beat South Africa 7-1 in the playoff for seventh and eighth.
With its win Turkey goes up to the division two, B group in the world championships next year, while New Zealand stays in division three.
