A suspect is in custody.
Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa expressed condolences on Wednesday and said it was "extremely regrettable" the student died despite requests for caution and enhanced safety around the time of the anniversary of the start of Japan's invasion of China in the 1930s.
Kamikawa said she also instructed Japanese schools in China to review their safety measures, and requested China to provide details of the attack and do its utmost to prevent a recurrence of similar attacks on the Japanese.
The student was stabbed by a man about 200m from the gate of the Shenzhen Japanese School, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said in a daily briefing.
"The attacker was arrested on site. The case is still being further investigated," Lin said.
The motive for the attack in the city of Shenzhen was not immediately clear.
In an email sent to Japanese citizens living in China, the Japanese Embassy warned residents to be vigilant and take precautions, citing knife attacks in recent months. The Japanese Consulate in Guangzhou, which is responsible for Shenzhen, called for measures to prevent such incidents.
On June 24, a knife attack at a school bus stop for a Japanese school in the southeastern city of Suzhou killed a Chinese national who was trying to stop the attacker and injured a Japanese mother and her child.
Earlier in June, a Chinese man stabbed four US university instructors at a public park in Jilin in the northeast and a Chinese person who tried to intervene. The four instructors from Cornell College were teaching at Beihua University. None was in critical condition.
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