The explosions from bombs hidden in courier parcels delivered to various locations across the Liucheng county, in the city of Liuzhou, came on the eve of the seven-day National Day holiday, also called the 'golden week'. According to Xinhua news agency, the first blast at 3:50 pm claimed five lives.

A 33-year-old man identified only as Wei has been named by the police as a suspect. It has also been reported that he has been quickly put under arrest.

Explosions occurred at several other areas also in and around Liuzhou. There were at least 17 blasts. Government offices, supermarkets, malls, hospitals, prison, bus terminal and a staff dormitory were among the structures damaged.

The Ministry of Public Security has sent criminal investigators and rescue workers to the scenes of blasts. The police said “the case is understood to be a criminal one,” reported the Shanghai Daily.

Authorities have since seized a total of 60 suspicious courier parcels and are awaiting processing by bomb squad. The public has been warned against receiving and opening mail or courier parcels.

The recently-introduced Chinese 'National Day Golden Week', a mid-year 7-day national holiday, starts on October 1, the foundation day of the People's Republic of China (The PRC was founded on October 1, 1949). The Chinese 'Lunar New Year Golden Week' or Chinese New Year begins every January or February. Golden Week allows people to make long-distance family visits and also promotes tourism and boosts up the economy. Around 28 million Chinese travelled during the first National Day Golden Week in 1999.

Sources said the explosions were intended to disturb the country-wide mass movement of the people, especially the working class.

There have been terror strikes off and on in Xinjiang but those have been attributed to the Uyghur separatists.