A statement by local authorities said the suspected gunman Liu Shuangrui was also killed at the scene.
It said he opened fire in a village in Suning county with a double-barrelled shotgun. One police officer was among the dead and two others were injured.
Mass shootings are rare in China, where firearms access is strictly controlled.
In December, an employee of China's central bank shot and killed two colleagues at the branch he was working at in the northeastern province of Liaoning.
The motive for the incident, which took place in early hours of Tuesday morning, was not clear.
The statement by local authorities said that Mr Liu, 55, had been suffering from "long-term schizophrenia".
It said the other victims and those injured were farmers.
Three people have been killed and five injured in a shooting incident in a village in China's northern Hebei province, state media report.