Police in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, are hunting for a thief who stole 6 million yuan (US$894,684) worth of jade jewelry from a store and calmly cleaned up the scene before running away.

Surveillance video showed the suspect broke into the jewelry store on Taiping Road S. at 8pm on Wednesday one hour after the shop was closed.

The man wearing a mask and a hat with a flashlight on it swiftly prized open the counters with a tool and swept jade jewelry into his bag.

The heist lasted 30 minutes and the thief was apparently well prepared and calm enough to tidy up the counters before leaving.

The shop owner surnamed Wang told reporters that one of his employees went back to check security at 9pm but didn't notice anything unusual and soon left. The case is still under investigation.