At least seven people have been killed and several others injured in a knife attack in China, state media has reported.

The incident unfolded outside a sauna and bathhouse in the city of  Kaiyuan in Liaoning province. 

One suspect has reportedly been arrested and taken into custody. A motive in the incident has yet to be established.

In China, the sale and possession of firearms is heavily restricted, with the country enforcing some of the strictest gun control measures in the world.

When mass attacks do unfold, they are often carried out with knives or homemade explosives. 

As noted by the Associated Press, perpetrators of similar knife attacks in the past have typically been described as being mentally ill or being at odds with society.

In June, a school security guard injured at least 39 people in a knife attack at a kindergarten in the southern region of Guangxi. 

Of the injured, 37 were students. 

The perpetrator in that incident was sentenced to death. 

In October 2018, a woman wielding a knife injured 14 children at a kindergarten in the western city of Chongqing.

That same year, a knife attack at a shopping centre in Beijing left one person dead and 12 injured. 

With reporting from AP.