Beijing stabbing wounds five in rare knife assault, Chinese police say

The rare stabbing in Beijing occurred at about 3:20 p.m. (0720 GMT) near the intersection of Wanquanzhuang Road and Wanliu Zhong Road in the Haidian district, the report said.

The suspect, a 50-year-old male surnamed Tang, was placed under police control, and the five passers-by wounded in the attack were taken to hospital. None of their injuries were life-threatening, it added, and investigations continue.

The site of the attack is where one of the branches of Zhongguancun No.3 Primary School is located and social media posts said the stabbing occurred outside of the school gate, which remains unconfirmed by local police or state media.

The school, one of the best primary schools in Beijing, has yet to respond to the incident.

A recent increase in reports of knife attacks in big Chinese cities has drawn increased public attention to personal safety in public spaces.

Victims have also included foreigners, such as a Japanese student who was fatally stabbed outside of his school in Shenzhen, at a time when China is trying to project a positive image of itself to the world and to attract more foreign tourists and visitors post-pandemic.