A knife attack at a prestigious primary school in the Chinese capital of Beijing has seen five wounded rushed to hospital, including three children.

It is understood that the knife attack took place outside of the school gates, with five people rushed to hospital as passers-by attempted to intervene.

Three children were hospitalised, however, none of the injuries have been deemed as life-threatening.

The attack occurred in the midafternoon in Beijing’s northwestern Haidian district with a 50-year-old man arrested at the scene.

The man, surnamed Tang, is now under investigation by police.

Footage circulating on social media showed two school-aged children on the ground.

Images from the scene also showed a man, his face covered in blood, being held to the ground.

Multiple knife attacks have occurred in China this year, with a number of them involving school-aged children.

Last month, a 10-year-old Japanese student died after being attacked with a knife near his school in the southern city of Shenzhen.

Another attack in June at a school bus stop for a Japanese school in Suzhou injured a woman and her child.

A Chinese woman who tried to intervene was killed.

In early October, three people were killed and 15 others were wounded in a knife attack in a Shanghai supermarket.

China tightly restricts private gun ownership, making knives and homemade explosives among the most common weapons.

Investigations into the latest attack continue.