A ten-year-old boy who was attacked on his way to a Japanese school in southern China has died of his injuries.

The Japanese Consul-General in Guangzhou, Kijima Yoshiko, revealed early Thursday that the boy, who was Japanese, died before dawn at the hospital where he had been receiving treatment.

The student was on his way to school, accompanied by his parent, when he was assaulted by a knife-wielding man in Shenzhen in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Wednesday morning.

Local police say the 44-year old suspect, who was apprehended at the scene, is likely to be undergoing interrogation. His motive remains unknown.

Kijima said the boy had been stabbed in the abdomen, adding that Chinese authorities will determine the exact cause of his death. She also said she wants Chinese authorities to continue to safeguard Japanese nationals in the country.

The school the victim attended will be closed for the rest of the week. Japanese consular officials will keep in touch with the school while offering support to the boy's family, his schoolmates and their families.

In June, another knife-wielding man attacked the bus of a Japanese school in Suzhou in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

A Japanese woman and her child were wounded. A female Chinese bus attendant who tried to stop the attack was stabbed to death.