Police in East China's Jiangxi Province have launched a manhunt after two primary school students were stabbed to death on Friday, authorities said.

The killer, who appeared to be around 50, attacked three children as they walked home from school at 11 am in Luojia village, Yiyang county, a spokesman with the county's publicity department said.

The chief suspect is a man released from prison in April. He fled to a mountain nearby and is still on the run.

An 8-year-old boy died at the scene and one child died in hospital. The other injured boy remains in intense care, China News Service said.

There have been a series of attacks on school children in recent years which have triggered public discussion about school security.

In May, a knife-wielding man stabbed and injured eight students in a primary school in Hubei Province. In December 2012, a man barged into a village primary school in Henan Province and stabbed and injured 23 children.