By David Kirton, Mei Mei Chu and Kiyoshi Takenaka
SHENZHEN, China/TOKYO (Reuters) -A child enrolled in a Japanese school in the Chinese city of Shenzhen has died after being stabbed on Wednesday, officials confirmed on Thursday, the second such attack near Japanese educational centres in China in recent months.
Chinese authorities said the 10-year-old boy was a Japanese national born to a Japanese father and a Chinese mother, and he had been stabbed on his way to school at about 8 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Wednesday by a 44-year-old assailant surnamed Zhong.
He died in the early hours of Thursday, Japanese foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa told reporters in Tokyo.
"Medical experts made every effort to save his life, and the Chinese side will provide the necessary assistance to his family to take care of his affairs," Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, told a regular news conference in Beijing.
"According to the information currently available, this is an individual case and such incidents could occur in any country," he added.
On Thursday afternoon, people laid wreaths at the gates of the school in Shenzhen's affluent Shekou area, which is home to most of the city's foreign community and international schools.
"As Chinese people, we oppose this behaviour, we oppose teachings of hatred," said one man who identified himself as an ordinary Shenzhen resident.
"Many of us have been under such teachings of hate for a long time, leading to such evil consequences," he added.
The attack took place on the anniversary of an incident in 1931 that triggered war between China and Japan, a sensitive date at a time when diplomatic relations are in danger of deteriorating.
"I actually did not know 18th September was this day for Chinese people to take revenge for things in the Second World War," said a Japanese father of two children in Shenzhen, who asked to only be identified by his surname, Suzuki, out of safety concerns.
"I have lived here for seven years and did not know we need to be cautious for being Japanese while living in China."
Japan has asked China to provide a detailed explanation of the facts and to take strong safety measures, Kamikawa told reporters earlier in the day.
"I take the incident extremely seriously," she added.
"This should never happen in any country. Particularly, I sincerely regret that this despicable act was committed against a child on their way to school."
The local Japanese chamber of commerce has asked the Japanese government to ensure the safety of its nationals in the area, the organisation said in a statement.
It was the second such attack near a Japanese educational facility in China in recent months. In June, a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in the eastern city of Suzhou, resulting in the death of a Chinese national who tried to shield a Japanese mother and her child from the assailant.