Five people died in a shooting in China's Inner Mongolia region, authorities said.

An individual shot and killed five people before being apprehended by police, authorities said in Inner Mongolia's eastern Kailu county.

Police did not describe the suspect, provide a motive or say whether anyone else was injured.

Gun crime is rare in China, where private firearm ownership is almost entirely forbidden.

But guns can be purchased on the black market through online dealers.

Regulations introduced in 2014 mandate that police officers carry guns — a change after decades in which Chinese police were unarmed.