A Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying a new-generation Beidou satellite lifts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sept. 30, 2015. China sent a new-generation satellite into orbit that will support its global navigation and positioning network at 7:13 a.m. Beijing Time Wednesday (2313 GMT Tuesday). It was the 20th satellite for the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and put China one step closer to providing an alternative to the U.S.-operated GPS. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
A hug flag of some 600 square meters is seen on a mansion in a business district in southwest China's Chongqing, Oct. 1, 2015. Over 400 flags were hung along the street in the district to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
A commemorative stamp marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is seen in Beijing, capital of China. China Post issued a special stamp set for the 60th anniversary of the founding of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday. The set contains three commemorative stamps with respective themes. (Xinhua)
On the scene of classes in a bilingual kindergarten in the township of Wutamu, Ruoqiang county, Bayingolin Mongolian autonomous prefecture, NW China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, June 9, 2012. (Source: Tianshannet/Xinhua)
Cosplayers pose for photo during the 7th Western China Animation, Comic and Game (ACG) Festival in southwest China's Chongqing, Oct. 1, 2015. The festival kicked off here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Hu Ba, a cartoon figure in the movie "Monster Hunt", interacts with audience at Chimelong Paradise in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 1, 2015. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
People wearing masks perform during a cultural festival to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct. 1, 2015. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)
Bridegroom Shi Jun and bride Zhang Yongdong attend their wedding ceremony in Huaihua, central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 2, 2015. Shi Jun and Zhang Yongdong, a Miao ethnic young man and a Han girl, held their wedding ceremony in the traditional way of Miao ethnic group on Friday. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Bride Zhang Yongdong feeds soup for bridegroom Shi Jun in Huaihua, central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 2, 2015. Shi Jun and Zhang Yongdong, a Miao ethnic young man and a Han girl, held their wedding ceremony in the traditional way of Miao ethnic group on Friday. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) meets with 13 outstanding grass-roots ethnic solidarity representatives at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2015. On the 66th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, President Xi Jinping invited the 13 outstanding grass-roots ethnic solidarity representatives, who are from the five autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Tibet, Ningxia and Xinjiang, to Beijing to attend the national day celebrations. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
Armed police soldiers transfer trapped people in Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 30, 2015. Typhoon Dujuan, the 21st typhoon this year, brought torrential rain to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. (Xinhua/Zhao Wei)
Citizens ride on a road in Lianyungang City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 30, 2015. Typhoon Dujuan, the 21st typhoon this year, brought torrential rain to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. (Xinhua/Si Wei)
Vehicles run on a waterlogged road in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 30, 2015. Typhoon Dujuan, the 21st typhoon this year, brought torrential rain to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. (Xinhua/Zhang Peijian)
A visitor is too frightened to move on the transparent suspension bridge on September 24, 2015. The high-altitude glass bridge is about 300 meters long and 180 meters up from the ground. Located inside the Shiniuzhai National Geological Park in central China's Hunan Province, the first high-altitude glass bridge in the country was open to travellers on Thursday. [Photo: Chinanews.com]
A series of explosions targeting public buildings in a small city in southern China has killed at least seven people and injured more than 50, officials and state media have said.
The Ministry of Public Security said it was treating the case as a criminal act and not terrorism. It said a 33-year-old local man, identified only by his family name of Wei, was considered a suspect but provided no further details, including a possible motive or whether the man had been detained.
A local Communist party newspaper, the Guangxi Daily, cited police as saying there were 17 explosions in Liuzhou, in Liucheng county, leaving seven people dead, two missing and 51 injured. The paper also said the suspect had not been apprehended.
The explosions, which occurred between 3.15pm and 5pm, hit a hospital, local markets, a shopping mall, a bus station and several government buildings, including a jail and dormitories for government workers, according to a police statement posted by the local newspaper Nanguo Zaobao.
“There were so many of them, and they were so loud, everyone in the county could hear them,” said a hotel employee who gave only his family name, Li. The hotel is near a township office building that was hit by one of the explosions.
“They sounded like someone was blasting rocks in the mountains,” Li said.
Zhou Changqing, the police chief for the city of Liuzhou, which has jurisdiction over Liucheng, said the blasts were triggered by explosive devices delivered in several mail packages, state broadcaster CCTV reported.