"The laws abroad stipulate clear-cut penalties for child abuse. But in China, such acts are banned in law formally with vague definitions and weak punishment," said Yao Jianlong, a member of the China Institute on Research of Juvenile Delinquency.

The call for legislation comes after a number of scandals over the past couple of years in the country, two recent ones in particular.

In one case, a picture posted on the Internet last Wednesday showed a 20-year-old teacher, surnamed Yan in a kindergarten in eastern Zhejiang Province, holding up a student by his ears with his feet about 10 centimeters off the ground.

The boy surnamed Lin was crying while Yan smiled. The woman was sacked by the local education authority and detained by police. She told police she did it "just for fun."

In another case, earlier this month, a five-year-old kindergarten girl was slapped in the face for more than 10 minutes by her female teacher Li Zhuqing in north China's Shanxi Province. Li, who was detained for 15 days, beat the girl just because she failed to answer a mathematics question.

In China's criminal law, the crime of abuse is applicable among family members. Usually, suspects of child abuse in kindergartens are put under administrative detention for up to 15 days. This means they will not face criminal charges.

China's constitution and laws on compulsory education and protection of minors consists of relevant items regarding child abuse, but the criminal law has no specific crime for child abuse, Yao added.

"Children suffer more mentally than physically from mistreatment. If the crime of child abuse and its penalties are not defined separately in criminal law, such scandals will continue to increase," warned Yao.

The boy which Yan had abused is currently staying at home as his ears still hurt, his mother said. "He is afraid of going to school and has nightmares," the mother added.

In the scandal in Zhejiang, police detained Yan for provoking a disturbance, a crime in which a suspect can face jail of up to seven years if convicted.

The judiciary authorities could issue an interpretation to expand the definition of the crime of abuse to include other cases between teachers and students, or babies and household nurses, lawyers have suggested.

Last year, Liang Xiuhuan, 44, dubbed by netizens as "the cheekiest and most villainous nurse", tossed a ten-month-old baby in the air and let the boy fall on a bed. Liang beat the baby and even forced him to nibble her toes. She was hired to take care of the baby in his home in Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning Province. She got a 15-day administrative detention.

A video shot by household cameras was posted on the Internet raising public concerns.

"Perhaps other cases of baby abuse exist but are not exposed. This shows the need to overhaul the household nursing sector," said Hu Gang, a commerce administration official in Shenyang.

Due to a lack of government investment, the number of private kindergartens is much higher than that of state-funded ones in many places in China. Low wages offered by private kindergartens lead to a shortage of qualified staff.

In Zhejiang Province alone, 40 percent of the 100,000 teachers in kindergartens have no teaching qualifications. The majority of the unlicensed teachers work in private schools.

"It is necessary to have relevant laws. But the qualities of teaching staff should be improved too," said Yu Yongchang, an education expert in Shenyang.