Eight killed in second mass attack in China this week

Beijing, China — A former student went on a stabbing rampage at a vocational college in eastern China on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring 17 others, police said, just days after the deadliest mass killing in the country in a decade shocked Chinese society.

Saturday's knife attack took place at the Wuxi Vocational College of Arts and Technology in Yixing, part of Wuxi City in the eastern province of Jiangsu. The suspect was apprehended at the scene and confessed to his actions, police added.

Later on Saturday, authorities in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai said they had charged a 62-year-old man after a driver on Monday rammed his car into a crowd killing 35 people and injuring 43 others.

That incident touched off a rare online discussion over the mental health of Chinese society and whether a string of recent high-profile attacks in other major cities could reflect deeper stresses as the world's second-largest economy slows.

At least six other high-profile knife attacks have been recorded this year across China.

Police in Wuxi said it appeared the stabbing suspect was angry over not getting his graduation certificate and failing an exam.

"According to preliminary investigations, the suspect, surname Xu - male, 21 years old, a 2024 graduate of the college - attacked others after failing an exam and not receiving his graduation certificate, as well as being dissatisfied with his internship compensation," a statement by the Yixing Public Security Bureau said.

It added that efforts were underway to treat the injured and investigate the case.

(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Joe CashEditing by Kevin Liffey, Louise Heavens, Frances Kerry and Lincoln Feast.)