A knife-wielding attacker who stabbed 22 students at a primary school in Henan was sentenced to death on Friday, a court said.
The Xinyang City Intermediate People’s Court said Min Yongjun, 37, was found guilty of intentional homicide and condemned to death, almost a year after he stormed a school in the central province of Henan and slashed dozens of pupils.
No-one was killed but 22 children were injured in the brutal attack, which took place on the same day that 20 children were shot dead at a primary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in the United States.
Surveillance footage showed Min pursuing a group of panicked children through an unguarded school gate, before a group of adults entered equipped with straw brooms and chased him out.
Under Chinese law those who plot or attempt to kill others can be convicted of intentional homicide, even if no-one actually dies.
Chinese social media users complained in the aftermath of the attack that domestic media should have given the incident more coverage.