An "unknown assailant" attacked and wounded a Japanese national accompanied by a child in the Chinese city of Suzhou, Tokyo's Embassy said Friday, calling on Beijing to prevent such incidents.

According to Japan-China diplomatic sources, the victim was a woman. Local authorities have detained the suspected attacker, but the motive and other details of the incident remain unclear.

The incident comes a year after a Japanese mother and child were wounded in a knife attack in the same city. A Chinese woman had died trying to stop the assailant.