The other victims are believed to be a teacher and two parents.

It happened in Lianjiang in the southeastern province of Guangdong, China.

A 25-year-old man with the surname Wu has been arrested, police said.

The incident took place at about 7.40am local time when parents were likely dropping off their children at the nursery.

One other person was injured.

Dafeng News, a news outlet, said an unidentified witness had claimed the attacker's child had been struck earlier by the car of one of the people who was killed at the school.

No other details were immediately available.

Although violent crime is rare for China, kindergarten attacks have stood out in recent years.

Last August, three were killed and others were wounded in a pre-school stabbing in the Jiangxi province, while in 2021 a man killed two children and injured 16 in a kindergarten in the region of Guangxi.

Analysts say they are usually blamed on grudges or mental illness and can often involve the use of knives. The ownership of most guns is illegal in China.