Firefighters in China have rescued a newborn baby from the sewage system beneath a toilet after his parents tried to abandon him by flushing him away.

There are often cases of abandonment of newborns in China due to its strict one-child policy and the status of girls in society.

But this incident involved a boy and it was in the wealthy coastal city of Jinhua.

Nieghbours heard the sound of a baby crying before the source of the noise was detected.

Firefighters had to remove the pipe with the baby boy still trapped inside. The pipe was then transported to a nearby hospital where it was carefully cut open.

The baby is said to be in good health, while Chinese police hunt for his parents.

Watch the rescue below: