The quake hit at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday [08:30 GMT] with the epicenter about 50 km southeast of Panzhihua city, the news agency cited the National Seismograph Network Center.
Shortly after, a 5.3 aftershock struck the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in the northwest of the country.
According to the latest reports, over 100 people have been injured, and many buildings have been damaged.
The latest tremor occurred just a week after China marked 100 days since the Sichuan province was hit by a massive earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, the most powerful to hit the region in thirty years.
At least 70,000 people were killed and 10 million displaced. Direct economic losses from China's May 12 earthquake have exceeded $150 billion.
