Hong Kong - A jilted Chinese mistress was beginning an eight-year jail term Saturday for setting fire to her ex-lover's apartment after sealing its doors.

Waitress Wan Xiuyang, 35, used metal sealant to jam the hinges and gate of her former boyfriend's apartment before pouring petrol on the floor to set it alight at 4 am in January 2008.

Her ex-boyfriend, cross-border lorry driver Cheung Kit-shun, was no longer living in the flat but his mother and brother had to be rescued by firefighters, a court heard Friday.

Wan was furious that Cheung failed to pay her 13,000 US dollars he promised her when he ended their 10-year relationship in 2007, the court was told.

Wan, who began her affair with Cheung after meeting him in a restaurant where she worked in southern China, pleaded guilty to arson and was jailed for eight years.

Judge Darryl Saw said the arson attack was premeditated and remarked that it was astonishing no one was killed or seriously injured in the incident. (dpa)