BEIJING - Guidelines on child abuse by legal guardians are in the pipeline, the Civil Affairs Ministry said Friday.

The regulation will be jointly stipulated by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Public Security Ministry, said Zhang Shifeng, director of the Civil Affairs Ministry's social affairs division, at a symposium on child welfare and protection.

Zhang said that guardians who abuse those in their care will be stripped of custody in accordance with laws and regulations.

In recent years, parental abuse cases have come to the fore. In 2013, a 22-year-old mother intentionally left her two young daughters at home and let them starve to death.

However, existing laws and regulations on juvenile custody are blurred and few violators are punished accordingly.

"Guardians who [...] severely harm juveniles should be deprived of custody through the court," said Zhang.

The symposium was jointly held by the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption and the Family and Child Research Center of Beijing Normal University.