British man jailed for life for beating Chinese girlfriend to death

A Facebook user makes comments on the report about the death of Chinese student Bi Xixi. Jordan Matthews, 24,has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Bi, who was his girlfriend. [Photo/Facebook]

A British man has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his Chinese girlfriend, in the final chapter of a case that has shocked Chinese international students.

Jordan Matthews, 24, was found guilty of beating his girlfriend Bi Xixi to death in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, in August and will have to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars, according to Cardiff Crown Court's ruling on Tuesday.

Matthews, a pub worker, struck Bi dozens of times at their apartment after he became convinced that she had cheated on him, according to a police interview with him released by the Press Association.

He claimed that he saw a message from dating app Tinder on her phone.

She didn't have the app, nor had she received such a message.

Bi, who moved to the United Kingdom for school at the age of 15, was a post-graduate student at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Bi, also 24, suffered 41 injuries, including a broken jaw and ribs, after the prolonged attack by Matthews, who is a karate black belt, on August 19.

The case has drawn wide attention from Chinese international students, making headlines on several popular public accounts on WeChat, and reigniting concerns about security and self protection of international students, especially female students.

Matthews' brutal behavior has caused outrage on Chinese social media such as WeChat and Weibo after reports revealed that Bi suffered from regular domestic violence including verbal and physical abuse.

The BBC reported earlier this month that Matthews called his girlfriend "worthless" despite the fact that she had been his major financial support by paying apartment rent and buying him a car.

The report also said Bi spoke English, French and Spanish fluently besides her native language, Chinese.

She had always got good academic scores until she moved in with Matthews in April 2015. Since then she had missed classes and deadlines.

During the trial, Matthews admitted the killing but denied it was a murder. His denial was rejected by judge Nicola Davies.

Judge Davies said: "You lied and lied again in order to attempt to exculpate yourself from the overwhelming evidence which was that during the early hours of August 19, 2016, you relentlessly and remorselessly inflicted physical injury upon a defenseless young woman."