Serial killer Zhang Yongming, who claimed 11 lives, was executed on Thursday in Southwest China's Yunnan province, according to Kunming City Intermediate People's Court.

In July, the court convicted Zhang of intentional homicide, sentencing him to death with deprivation of his political rights for life.

The court said that from March 2008 to April 2012, Zhang killed 11 people in Kunming city's Jinning county.

It said Zhang strangled the victims, using his hands or tape, and then took the bodies to his home.

"He used cruel means to kill the victims, and the circumstances and consequences were especially serious," a statement released by the court said.

After the verdict was handed down, Zhang confessed and did not appeal to a higher court.

Yunnan Provincial High People's Court upheld the verdict.