Zhang Yongming, 57, was accused of fatally strangling 11 people in Jinning county from March 2008 to April 2012, according to the Kunming Intermediate People's Court ruling yesterday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Zhang used various methods including dismembering and burning the bodies to destroy evidence, the report said.
He had been sentenced to death in 1979 for another homicide but was released after his sentence was reduced.
Zhang was given a piece of land by the village and a subsistence allowance from the local government, but he did not feel grateful and continued to commit crimes, the court said.
Zhang did not show any remorse in court and refused to apologise to the relatives of the victims.