HARBIN - An inmate escaped from a juvenile prison in northeast China's Heilongjiang province Saturday night, the provincial bureau of prison administration said on Sunday.

The 20-year-old inmate, Zhang Yunming, was sentenced to nine years in prison for robbery by a court in Shuangyashan City on Mar. 20, 2012. He began serving his sentence in July 2012 at the juvenile prison.

Zhang climbed over the prison wall and escaped around 8 pm Saturday, officials with the bureau said.

Police are pursuing the escaped prisoner, and the case is under investigation.