Zheng Minsheng (center), a former community doctor, stands trial on Thursday, April 8, 2010 for murdering eight primary school children last month, in Nanping city of east China's Fujian province. [Photo: Xinhua]

A former community doctor was sentenced to death Thursday for murdering eight children outside their primary school last month in east China.

Zheng Minsheng, 41, admitted "intentionally killing" the children on March 23 at the gate of the Nanping Experimental Elementary School.

The hearing at the Intermediate People's Court of Nanping City, Fujian Province, began at 8 a.m. and lasted about four hours.

Prosecutors of the Nanping People's Procuratorate played 15 video clips, totaling 55 seconds of footage, showing Zheng stabbing children with a knife as they arrived at the school

Other evidence, including the knife, bloodstained clothes and schoolbags of the victims, were presented to the court.

Zheng told the court, "I'm willing to shoulder responsibility for what I've done."

Zheng, appearing agitated, repeatedly told the court he had been turned down by a girl and suffered unfair treatment from the girl's wealthy family, which prompted him to carry out the attack.

Prosecutors said Zheng, who is not married, had been unsuccessful in relations with women, his family and in his career, so he felt life was meaningless.

More than 50 reporters from dozens of media organizations were present at the hearing.

Police said after arresting Zheng that their investigations showed Zheng carried out the attack because he felt frustrated after breaking up with his girlfriend and he found life meaningless.

Zheng had no history of mental illness, according to police.

Five other children were injured in the knife attack.

Four of them have been moved out of intensive care to receive rehabilitation, while the worst injured, Zhang Xuexin, was still in the ICU for observation, according to doctors with the No.1 Hospital of Nanping where the children were treated.