A bomb has exploded outside the US embassy in Beijing, wounding the lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement, although police described the weapon merely as a "firework device".
The explosion happened on the street outside southeast corner of the embassy compound. Beijing police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man from China's Inner Mongolia region whom they identified only by the surname Jiang, had injured his hand and had been taken to hospital.
Police did not provide a motive but said in a statement via their official account on the Chinese social networking service Weibo that the suspect had a history of mental illness and was once hospitalised for treatment. The suspect was hearing voices, the statement said.
Witnesses told Reuters that they heard an explosion near the embassy and felt tremors.
A police 4WD appeared to have been damaged, with its back windshield missing, and was cordoned off by police before being removed, a Reuters witness said.
Crowds were still queueing outside the embassy after the explosion, and traffic was moving as normal in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India and Israel.
Postings on social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the compound for visa appointments. Some video clips and images were later removed.
There was no damage to US embassy property, the embassy said. reply to a request for comment on the woman.
Security in the Chinese capital is tight and protests are often quickly disbanded. Violent crime rates are low in China, according to official statistics.
