CHANGCHUN - Judicial authorities on Thursday approved the arrest of a man who allegedly murdered a baby on Monday in northeast China's Jilin Province.

At 6 pm, the Changchun Municipal People's Procuratorate formally approved the arrest of Zhou Xijun, who turned himself in to police on Tuesday, confessing to stealing an SUV and strangling its two-month-old passenger.

The baby boy's parents identified the body of their child on Wednesday.

Zhou Xijun, 48, told police he had stolen the vehicle on Monday morning, found the baby in the back seat after driving onto a highway and strangled the infant and buried him in the snow.

Authorities of the Jilin Public Security Department denied online rumors that Zhou's motive was revenge against the baby's family, and said the murder was a spontaneous act.

The car belonged to a local resident surnamed Xu.

Xu parked in front of the supermarket he runs and entered the store to turn on a stove, leaving his child in the back seat without shutting off the car's engine.

He came out of the supermarket minutes later only to find that his car had been stolen with the baby still inside. He called the police immediately.

In a telephone interview with Xinhua, Xu said that he did not know Zhou.

The case is under further investigation.