Chinese police Tuesday shot and wounded a man in downtown Beijing who resisted arrest after killing one person and injuring several others with a kitchen knife, the state Xinhua News Agency reported.

It identified the suspect as a 29-year-old man from the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and said the motive for the knife attack on a street in Beijing's Chaoyang district is under investigation.

The suspect and the victims were taken to hospital, it said. His injury was not critical, Xinhua said, without giving further details.

China's government has grown increasingly anxious about knife and other violent attacks, and has restricted sales of knives in areas it considers to be sensitive.