Police in north China are looking for a woman who had abandoned a baby girl on the street near a shopping mall.

Chilling CCTV footage shows the woman, wearing a mask and carrying a suitcase, lingering near the back door of the shopping centre in Harbin, Heilongjiang province before placing the baby on the ground. She then left the scene hurriedly.

The girl, who is about three-months-old, was discovered by a security guard on Sunday, when temperatures dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius overnight, according to Chinese media.

CCTV footage shows the woman, wearing a mask and carrying a suitcase, lingering near the back door of the shopping mall in Harbin, Heilongjiang before placing the baby on the ground

The three-month-old baby has received a checkup in hospital, where she was treated for newborn jaundice and is currently under the care of a children's welfare institute

Wang Chun, manager of the mall's security team, said one of his employees found a discarded blanket near the back door and picked it up. He was shocked to find a baby wrapped inside.

'The baby was so quiet and she was not crying,' Wang recalled.

She was left on the street with a blanket, a rug and a nappy. There was no note or contact information for the girl's parents.

The security guard immediately carried the baby girl indoors and alerted police, according to Beijing News.

The mall also provided authorities with the surveillance footage, which showed the woman abandoning the baby on Saturday at around 7:20pm

The woman is seen lowering the baby onto the ground before leaving the scene hurriedly

They also provided authorities with the surveillance footage, which showed the woman abandoning the baby on Saturday at around 7:20pm.

The baby has received a checkup in hospital, where she was treated for newborn jaundice and is currently under the care of a children's welfare institute.

Police in Heilongjiang are currently tracking down the girl's parents, according to the report.

On Christmas Day last year, a two-month-old baby boy was abandoned by his mother in a park in the same province.

The mother, surnamed Zhang, told reporters that she was disappointed that her third child turned out to be a son as well and the family could not afford to raise him.