A young student from Shanghai pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the death of Cecilia Zhang, who was kidnapped from a bedroom in her Toronto home in October 2003.

Min Chen, then 21, was arrested at his Scarborough home in July 2004 and charged with killing Cecilia after her disappearance created headlines across the country for months.

Cecilia Zhang's smiling face was featured on posters and ads throughout the Toronto area for months. (CBC)

The girl's remains were found near a Mississauga river on March 27, 2004, three days before she would have turned 10.

On Tuesday morning, an agreed statement of facts was read out in a Brampton courtroom, revealing for the first time that Chen smothered Cecilia to death.

It also revealed the motive for the crime: Chen desperately needed money.

Min Chen came to Canada from China on a student visa in 2001. He has admitted that he killed Cecilia by putting his hand over her mouth until she stopped breathing. (CBC)

He had planned to ask for ransom and then pay $25,000 to arrange a marriage of convenience so that he could stay in Canada and continue his studies.

At first he thought he could kidnap the girl, demand a ransom and return her to her parents the same day.

However, when he approached Cecilia in her house the night of Oct. 19, 2003, he feared that she was about to scream for help.

So he took a purple towel she had with her, covered her face and head with it, and pressed his hand hard against her face while he carried her out of the house to a waiting car.

By the time he put her in the car's  trunk, she was no longer struggling. When he checked on her later, she wasn't breathing. He eventually left her body in the Mississauga ravine where it was found.

Student faces mandatory life sentence

Chen was originally charged with first-degree murder. His trial on that charge was expected to begin Tuesday, but instead he was arraigned on the lesser charge.

The judge is required to impose a life sentence, which means Chen will not be eligible for parole for between 10 and 20 years, depending on the circumstances of the case.

Upon his eventual release, he would likely be deported back to China. 

Cecilia's parents were not in court for the guilty plea. The family submitted victim impact statements in both written and video form, however.

Raymond Zhang cried as he said his only daughter would never have a chance to fulfil all her dreams.

Sherry Xu was also emotional as she talked about the 161 days and nights she spent hoping for good news before her daughter's body was found and the 720 days and nights that have elapsed since the ordeal began.

Parents mortgaged home to have ransom ready

Zhang and Xu had issued public pleas for their child's safe return in the weeks following her disappearance.

The girl's parents also mortgaged their house in order to have money ready in case of a ransom demand.

But the ransom call the police expected never came. Nor did the break in the case that Toronto's Chinese community longed for, as it raised tens of thousands of dollars to be offered as a reward.

Information about Cecilia was sent around the world and featured on America's Most Wanted in case she had somehow been spirited out of the country.

Killer knew former boarder at Zhang home

Chen came to Canada from China on a student visa in 2001. 

At the time of his arrest, police said he knew a woman who had boarded at the Zhang home between September 2002 and March 2003.

She was at first suspected of being involved in the case, but an investigation later cleared her. She was expected to be called as a witness when Chen went to trial.

Chen had visited the Zhang home at least four times and had met Cecilia, police said.