A 10-year-old boy attending a Japanese school in southern China has died after being stabbed on his way to class on Wednesday, according to Tokyo’s foreign minister, in the second knife attack near a Japanese school in the country in recent months.

Japan's Prime Minister has called for clarification from Beijing regarding the fatal stabbing of a 10-year-old boy in Shenzhen, marking the second knife attack on Japanese children in China in recent months.

One by one, they laid flowers at the gate of a Japanese school in Shenzhen, which was strikingly quiet even as nearby streets filled with children heading home from class.

A 44-year-old man was in custody, the police said, after the child was attacked Wednesday. Other Japanese schools in China urged caution.

Japan's ambassador to Beijing has asked for more security for Japanese nationals in China after a 10-year-old Japanese boy was killed this week in a knife attack that was the second to target school students.

The attack on the 10-year-old boy was the second such incident in months amid a social-media campaign that has stirred up anti-Japan sentiment in China.

Some of Japan’s biggest companies urged the protection of employees in China, following the fatal stabbing in the mainland of a young Japanese boy.