Beijing, Jan 7 (IANS): China has executed a man for attacking 12 children with a knife at a kindergarten in 2017, the state media reported on Monday.

Qin Peng'an, a peasant from the village of Nanshan in Pingxiang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was executed last Friday, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Qin took a kitchen knife to a kindergarten in Guangxi Zhuang region on January 4, 2017, and slashed children. Four of them were seriously injured while eight others received minor injuries.

He escaped after the incident and later surrendered to the police, according to the SPC statement.

On August 28, 2017, the Intermediate People's Court of Chongzuo sentenced Qin to death and deprived him of his political rights for life for intentional homicide.

Qin appealed, but his appeal was dismissed by the Higher People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region later that year.

The verdict was then submitted to the SPC for approval in accordance with the law. After reviewing the case, the SPC held that Qin's behaviour had constituted the crime of intentional homicide and should be punished according to law.

The SPC said that although Qin's attempted murder failed and he turned himself in, it was still not enough to punish him leniently.