Police have been ordered to spare no effort in their attempts to arrest a street hawker who escaped after seriously injuring an urban management officer on Sunday afternoon.

The order was given by Xie Xiaodan, Guangzhou's vice-mayor and director of the city's public security bureau.

The incident took place in the city's Dongpudama Road, Tianhe district, at about 2 pm when local urban management officer Su Jiaquan and a colleague persuaded a street pineapple vendor to move away because the vendor had illegally used the street space to conduct business.

The street vendor, in his 40s, used a fruit knife to attack Su.

Su, 27, the father of a one-year-old boy, was stabbed in the head 7 times. He was seriously injured.

Su was sent to a nearby hospital for treatment and the street vendor ran away.

Su's condition is stable but doctors fear he may suffer disfiguring scars.