Image copyright AP Image caption Lu was tried for "putting dangerous substances into circulation" by a Chinese court in July

A Chinese man has been sentenced to life in prison for poisoning dumplings that made 10 people ill in Japan, Japanese and Chinese media say.

Hebei-based factory worker Lu Yueting admitted last year to injecting insecticide into frozen dumplings that were later exported to Japan.

A five-year-old girl was among those who became ill and required treatment.

The incident in 2008 led to a scare over Chinese food and strained diplomatic ties between the countries.

The Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court, in northern China's Hebei province, announced Lu's sentence on Monday, news agencies Xinhua and Kyodo reported.

Lu Yueting worked in the Tianyang Food company from 1993 to 2009.

He was accused of using a syringe to put a highly toxic pesticide, methamidophos, into the frozen dumplings over frustration with his wages and colleagues.

In January 2008, at least 10 people in Japan fell ill after eating the dumplings.

Diplomatic relations between China and Japan were strained as both sides debated whether the contamination occurred in their territory.

Lu was arrested and charged in China in 2010. He was put on trial in July 2013.

The sentence comes amid renewed tensions in China and Japan.

China has been angered by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Yasukuni shrine, a shrine that honours war dead including convicted war criminals, in December.

Meanwhile, Japan has criticised China's move in November to create a new "air defence identification zone" which covers a group of disputed islands.

The two sides are embroiled in a bitter territorial dispute in the East China Sea.