A gamer in China was so annoyed that his friend had sold a cyberweapon lent to him in the online game Legends of Mir 3 that he murdered him.

A court in Shanghai heard that Qiu Chengwei, 41, allegedly stabbed competitor Zhu Caoyuan repeatedly in the chest after he was told Zhu had sold his Dragon Sabre weapon used in the popular online game.

Qiu and a friend had jointly won the weapon online last February, and lent it to Zhu who then promptly sold it for 7,200 yuan (US$871).

Qiu went to the police in Shanghai to report the "theft" but was told the weapon was not counted as real property protected by law.

In further discussions Zhu then promised to handover the cash but an angry Qiu lost patience and attacked and stabbed Zhu to death at his home.

The case aside from murder has added to the legal dilemma in China where no law exists for the ownership of Internet gaming weapons.