Two people died and seven others were being treated in hospital after sustaining injuries in a knife attack on Tuesday in China's southwestern Yunnan province, local authorities said.

In a statement released Tuesday evening, Luoping County police said a 20-year-old man with a history of mental illness had "stabbed his mother with a knife at home then fled, stabbing eight (more) people successively".

"Among them, two people were unable to be saved and died," the statement added.

Seven of the victims were still being treated in hospital for their wounds.

The suspect, surnamed Chen, was arrested by public security personnel after the attack, which occurred around 8 am in the county's Lashan urban residential district.

"Investigation into the case and dealing with its aftermath are being conducted in an orderly and lawful manner," the police statement said.

While guns are strictly controlled in China, there has been a spate of mass stabbings in recent years.

Last month, six people were killed and one wounded in a kindergarten stabbing in southern China's Guangdong province.