At least seven people were killed and 51 injured following serial blasts on Wednesday afternoon that rocked southern China's Guangxi province.
The state-run Xinhua news agency is reporting that the blasts targeted the city of Liuzhou.
Nanguo Zaobao reported on Weibo — a social media portal similar to Twitter — that the explosions targeted 15 locations including a shopping mall, a prison, a county government office, supermarket, transport station, hospital, staff dormitory of animal husbandry, vegetable market and a disease control centre.
Early investigations have revealed that the explosives could have been concealed inside express delivery parcels.
While terrorist strikes have rocked the western Xinjiang province, Guangxi, despite several ethnic minorities and shared borders with Vietnam, has been generally peaceful.
Xinhua is reporting that early investigation showed that the explosions resulted from a "criminal" act by a 33-year-old local man.
In the past, disaffected or mentally unstable individuals have set off blasts, taking advantage of the easy availability of explosives that are used for mining. The Ministry of Public Security is continuing with the investigation, Xinhua said.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday evening, a local official said that 60 suspicious courier parcels had been identified. They have been placed under guard awaiting examination by the bomb squad. In their emergency response, local authorities have asked the public not to open parcels they might have received.
