Man stabs student near Japanese school in south China

"A 10-year-old student of a Japanese school in Shenzhen was stabbed by a man about 200 metres from the school gate," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

The pupil was immediately taken to hospital and the assailant arrested on the spot, he said.

Police in Shenzhen said a juvenile was stabbed about 8am.

The suspected assailant was surnamed Zhong and aged 44, it said in a report, but it did not give a motive.

Neither the foreign ministry spokesman nor the police report stated the victim's citizenship but Japanese media said the student was a Japanese boy.

The website of the Shenzhen Japanese School, located in the same district as the police office that issued the report, says it is for children of Japanese nationality.

"The case is still under investigation. China will continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners in the country," Lin said.

This incident follows a similar one in June when a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in the eastern city of Suzhou, resulting in the death of a Chinese person who tried to shield a Japanese mother and her child from the assailant.

Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya said on Wednesday Japan had requested China to prevent such an attack happening again.

Japan also sent officials to the area to provide support.

"Japan will continue to work closely with the Chinese authorities and make every effort to ensure the safety of its overseas nationals," he told a press conference.

Later, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned the Chinese ambassador to Japan and conveyed grave concern over the incident.

Wednesday marks the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden Incident, a "false flag" event staged by the Japanese military that triggered its invasion of its neighbour.

About 14 million Chinese people died and 100 million more were made refugees in the war that followed, historians estimate.