Police officer at gate of office-apartment building where Diana O'Brien was found dead 09 Jul 2008 in Shanghai

Police in China say they have arrested a young man who is suspected of killing a Canadian model in Shanghai earlier this week.

China's official Xinhua news agency says the suspect, Chen Jun, was arrested Friday in eastern Anhui province, five days after Diana O'Brien was found stabbed to death. 

Chen had the model's laptop and other items in his possession. Xinhua says Chen has confessed to the murder.

Chen says he followed O'Brien to her apartment last Sunday night planning to rob her.  Xinhua says O'Brien resisted and then Chen killed her.

O'Brien arrived in Shanghai less than two weeks before she was murdered. Friends say she was unhappy with her work in China and planned to return home.

O'Brien had come to China hoping to launch an international career, but her contract with a Chinese modeling agency turned out to mostly involve jobs as a bar dancer. 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.