The attacker targeted schoolchildren in Macheng city of central China's Hubei Province.
The man rushed into the Wulidun elementary school carrying a kitchen knife at noon and started to attack students, according to the Macheng government.
The injured were hospitalised, local authorities said.
One student suffered serious injuries, while the other seven had minor injuries, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The report make no mention of the motive for the attack.
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Police received a call at 12:28 pm and caught the 35-year-old suspect at the scene.
The Chinese government ordered the deployment of armed police in all cities with instructions that police should rush to the spot within three minutes after an incident is reported.