The man who set off a bomb at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in June, slightly injuring four passengers, said during a court hearing on Wednesday that he did so to draw public attention to people like him.

"As migrant workers, we have low incomes and women of our age will never give us an opportunity for love and marriage. I wanted a change, and I chose to die," Zhou Xingbai, a 29-year-old native of Southwest China's Guizhou province, said during the hearing at Shanghai No 3 Intermediate People's Court.

Prosecutors filed charges against Zhou, who has been a migrant worker in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces since he graduated from high school in 2006, of endangering public safety by causing an explosion.

Zhou set off a homemade explosive device in three beer bottles at a check-in counter in Terminal 2 on June 12. The blast created public panic and several flights were affected.

He attempted to cut his throat, but was stopped.

Zhou was allegedly addicted to online gambling and was heavily in debt. Prosecutors said that he wrote on his social networking platform that he was going to do something "really crazy".

Zhou said during the hearing that he made the explosive device with firecrackers in his dorm in an electronics factory in Jiangsu. He had never been to the Shanghai airport.

He said he chose Terminal 2 rather than Terminal 1 because "the latter is more crowded and I feared that many people would be injured and that it might trigger a stampede."

He also said that he chose to roll the bottles on the ground rather than throw them so people would have time to run away.

Zhou pleaded guilty in court and apologized to those injured in the attack.

Prosecutors said Zhou should receive a jail term of between seven and eight years, with the court yet to issue a verdict.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn