Police from Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province are collecting information on the parents of an abandoned baby boy on Tuesday.

Police said they saved a newborn boy in an irrigation canal in Pukou District in early August, hoping witnesses would provide clues to help the boy find his parents.

The baby was wrapped in a bloody and filthy cloth, lying on the grass on the bank of an irrigation canal when he was found by police, who were tipped off. He tried his best to stretch out one of hands. Police removed the cloth and the baby began to cry, a police officer recalled.

He said the placenta was not removed when the baby was found. They sent the boy to the provincial maternal and child care service center immediately.

A doctor from the center said the boy weighing around 3.6 kg is healthy and has left the infant incubator on Monday.

According to China's law, those found guilty of abandoning a child can face up to five years in prison.