A suspected mental patient has been detained after taking a woman hostage on a campus in Hangzhou on Thursday afternoon, local police said.

Police received a report at 4:25 pm of a hostage situation in a bakery at the Zhejiang University City College. They immediately activated an emergency action plan, according to a statement from the Gongshu district police bureau of Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

Police successfully rescued the hostage and detained the suspect, according to the statement, released at about 5:40 pm.

Police said the suspect is highly likely to be a mental patient.

The statement offered little information about the hostage, or how the rescue was conducted.

Witnesses said the hostage was a female shop assistant in the bakery, and her wrist was injured during her rescue.

The police investigation is continuing.