Violence targeting foreigners in China had been occurring previously in 2024, prompting some observers to express concern that nationalist sentiment may have contributed to these incidents.

In a separate incident, another man attacked a Japanese mother and her son in Suzhou, resulting in the death of a Chinese woman who tried to stop him.

[1] The date of the stabbing, 18 September, is the anniversary of the Mukden incident, a 1931 false-flag operation and pretext for Japan's invasion of the Manchurian region of China.

[3] The boy was taken to the Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone Hospital [zh][9] (深圳市前海蛇口自贸区医院)[10] with severe injuries[3] and died on the early morning of 19 September.

[1] Following the stabbing, Shenzhen police arrested at the scene a 44-year-old male suspect,[2] named Zhong Changchun (钟长春[11]), from Jiangxi.

[12] According to reports, Zhong has no fixed occupation and had previously been questioned by the police in 2015 for allegedly damaging public property.

[6] A day after the attack, the Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida condemned the crime and "strongly demand[ed]" an explanation from the Chinese government.

[15] On 22 September, Japan's state minister for foreign affairs Yoshifumi Tsuge traveled to Beijing for three days in relation to the death.

[17] Some Chinese netizens criticized the anti-Japanese education in China, while nationalist voices alleged that the attack was staged or called for the Japanese schools to be closed.

[6] On the WeChat app, two law professors in Beijing asked people to avoid committing violent acts in the name of patriotism.