Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday summoned Japanese Ambassador Koreshige Anami and lodged a solemn protest after a victim of Japanese chemical weapons abandoned in China died in hospital.

A victim lies on the bed at a hospital in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province. At least 36 Chinese people were injured by the chemical weapons left over by the Japanese army in World War II at a construction site in Qiqihar on April 4. [Xinhua]

China strongly urged the Japanese side to shoulder full responsibility for the death and losses suffered by other victims, and to provide an explanation to the Chinese people.

Li Guizhen sustained serious burns from highly toxic mustard gas leaked from containers abandoned by the invaders during the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-45). He died on Thursday night at the No 203 Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

The containers were unearthed on August 4 at a construction site in Qiqihar in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Li's father Li Guoxiong will seek compensation from the Japanese through the Qiqihar government, said the Director of the Qiqihar government information centre.

Xinhua News Agency reported the father will demand compensation in seven forms: fees for supporting his son's wife and parents from both sides; for rearing his son's children; for delay in their work; for mental consolation; for burial; and for transportation of relatives for the funeral.

The father also expressed his willingness to make his son's body available for medical research.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Government on Friday expressed condolences over the death of Li, Xinhua reported.

"The Government of Japan expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family of the victim who passed away,'' the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

It added Japan will "dispose of the dangerous chemical weapons as soon as possible'' and "continue to respond sincerely to the accident in close co-operation with the Chinese side.''

There are still 32 victims of the chemical weapons in hospital, with five listed in critical condition.Ten others have been treated and released.

Li was a migrant worker from Central China's Henan Province who made a living collecting and selling discarded materials in Qiqihar.

On the morning of August 4 he bought five toxic gas cylinders and carted them to a discarded materials collection centre, where he removed the lead and copper fastenings.

During the removal, dark oil-like material gushed from two of the cylinders and splashed all over his body. The material was later confirmed to be mustard gas.

Upon hospitalization in the late evening of August 4, Li was diagnosed with severe burns to 95 per cent of his body, including his eyes and respiratory system.

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