Seven other people were also injured in the attack in Kaiyuan City, Liaoning Province, the CCTV state broadcaster reported.
Only one suspect, nicknamed Yang, has been arrested and police are investigating the case, the Kaiyuan municipal public security bureau said in a statement.
Police did not mention the reason for the attack or details about the suspect or the victims. CCTV reported that a police officer who helped subdue the suspect was among the injured.
A video posted by Beijing State News on Chinese social media showed two police officers – one of them holding a broom – confronting the suspect and attacking him on the ground.
Public knife attacks are not uncommon in China.
In June, 37 children and two adults were injured by a knife attacker at an elementary school in southwestern Guangxi region.
In October 2018, a woman carrying a kitchen knife cut at least 14 children at a kindergarten in downtown Chongqing.
Nine students were killed at a middle school in Shaanxi Province in April 2018 by a 28-year-old man who was later sentenced to death.
In 2017, 11 students were injured after a man climbed over the wall of a kindergarten with a knife and started attacking them.
But perhaps the worst period of stabbings took place in 2010, which included a three-day period in which the attackers targeted schools. The Chinese Ministry of Education responded to these events by ordering schools to strengthen security and prevent foreigners from entering campuses.