Du Anxiang, 54, was sentenced to life with a four-decade minimum term at Northampton Crown Court in central England.
Du killed compatriot Ding "Jeff" Jifeng, 46, his wife Ge Chui, 47, and their daughters Xing, 18, and Alice, 12, at their home in the town on April 29, 2011.
A jury yesterday convicted him of their murders.
The jury heard how Du "massacred" the Dings, his former business partners, in revenge after losing a 10-year legal battle over a Chinese herbal medicine business.
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"Hatred and anger and your desire for revenge was what motivated you to act as you did."
Flaux said security camera footage of him travelling to the Dings' home revealed he was "calm and methodic" and a "man on a mission."
His "frenzied attack" was an act of "savage butchery" with an intent to kill, the judge added.
"You did not lose your self control in killing Jeff Ding; in effect you executed the man you hated."
Ding worked in the chemistry and environmental sciences division at Manchester Metropolitan University. His wife taught Mandarin part-time at a local business school.
Both hailed from Hangzhou, the capital of eastern China's Zhejiang province.