The train derailed at 10:30 a.m. local time after hitting the wreckage of a landslide on the track as it approached Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province, CCTV reported.
The train driver died at the hospital, CCTV said. One crew member and seven passengers were injured.
The remaining 136 passengers were safely evacuated and the incident is under investigation, CCTV said.
China’s high-speed rail network includes 37,900 kilometers (about 23,500 miles) of lines across the country to connect all of its large groups of megacities. All have been completed since 2008.
No major incidents have been reported on the network since 2011, when 40 people died and nearly 200 others were injured after a high-speed train was hit from behind by another train near Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. .