JINAN - The dumping of 21 baby bodies and fetuses in a river in East China's Shandong province was due to old local customs and a lack of regulation, experts said.

In some parts of China, especially in poor rural areas, parents are reluctant to take babies' bodies home for a funeral. They would rather dump the body in a corner of the hospital or pay someone to bury the baby, said Ma Guanghai, deputy dean of Shandong University's school of philosophy and social development.

According to regulations, if a body is recovered from a hospital corner, hospital officials should register the identification of the dead baby, report the case to the public security bureau and then arrange for the baby's body to be cremated.