A 39-year-old Chinese man was sentenced Monday to life in prison for lacing frozen "gyoza" dumplings with poison, causing 14 people in Japan and China to fall ill six years ago and triggering concerns over the safety of food imported from the fast-growing country.

"There is no room for leniency," the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court said in handing down the ruling against Lu Yueting, a former temporary worker at the plant where the food was made, describing his crime as "despicable" and "premeditated."

The ruling comes at a time of heightened bilateral tensions over territorial and historical issues, and this may explain why it took apparently longer than usual for the trial to conclude.