The Taixing Intermediate People's Court found Xu Yuyuan, 47, guilty of intentional homicide after a half-day trial, Xinhua news agency said.

Xu told the court that his rage against society motivated him in the April 29 attacks, according to Xinhua. But he appealed the death sentence, arguing that the punishment was too severe since no one died in the attack, Xinhua said.

The Chinese penal code says a person can be convicted of intentional homicide for acting on an intent to kill, the news agency reported.

A police probe found Xu had been unemployed since 2001, when he was fired by a local insurance company. He told police he carried out the attack because he was angry about a series of business and personal humiliations, Xinhua said.

Xu's sentence was the second death penalty conviction after a recent spate of school attacks that have prompted public outrage across China.

Guns are strictly regulated in China, but until recently large knives were not. Chinese authorities have recently issued a regulation requiring people to register with their national ID cards when they buy knives longer that 15 centimeters.