Content about Shandong

The China Securities Regulatory Commission's implementation of tighter rules for would-be publicly listed companies has entered a second phase.

After a three-month period for companies to examine their own listing qualifications, officials said they had now moved into a period of random checks on company compliance with listing laws and regulations.

Smog blanketed Beijing and parts of northern China on Sunday, disrupting many passengers' plans of returning to work after the Spring Festival holiday and triggering concern over air pollution.

Beijing Capital International Airport delayed 23 flights and canceled four others because of fog covering the runway on Sunday morning, according to the airport's real-time flight information.

At one point on Sunday morning, visibility in the airport dropped to less than 10 meters, making takeoffs and landings difficult, Xinhua News Agency reported.

China's steel industry will continue to face overcapacity problems this year, and suffer similar financial pressures to 2012, as the sector struggles against rising raw material prices and weak demand.

The stark industry outlook came from Zhang Changfu, secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, who revealed on Thursday that the country's major steel companies - which account for 80 percent of the country's total output - had an overall profit of 1.58 billion yuan ($254 million) in 2012, a 98.22 percent year-on-year drop on the previous year.

Thick smog and haze shrouded large areas of China on Tuesday for the fourth time this month, again provoking heated discussions over government measures that seem ineffective.

But tackling air pollution requires input from individuals as well as officials, experts say, though an environmental NGO points the finger at the economic structure.

Thousands of children have been reunited with their parents thanks to a groundbreaking national DNA database, a leading figure in the fight against trafficking said.

More than 2,300 youngsters, who were abducted, sold or reported missing, have been able to track their blood relatives, Chen Shiqu, director of the Ministry of Public Security's human trafficking task force, said in an interview.

When police rescue abducted children or find vagrant youths, they immediately take blood samples for DNA sampling, he said.

Snow, which fell in most parts of northern China over the weekend, will continue on Monday, according to weather authorities. Snow grounded flights and delayed high-speed trains, but also helped to clean the air.

The new year's first widespread snowfall started on Saturday night, covering almost all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in northern China, according to the National Meteorological Center, with snow up to 8 centimeters deep in parts of Hebei province and Beijing.

For many years, Peking Duck and Peking Opera were probably the two most famous items named after the capital.

However, they now face a strong challenge. The heavy smog and haze that enveloped the city on the weekend - pushing the pollution index to a record high - has seen "Beijing Cough", a term coined by the city's expat community, becoming increasingly popular with local media and Chinese citizens.

Min Yongjun, an epilepsy patient, is accused of attacking and injuring 23 children in a primary school and an old woman in a nearby home in Guangshan county, Henan province, on Dec 14. Min has confessed that he was obsessed with rumors that the world would end on Dec 21 and thought he could "prove his worth as a man" before doomsday by attacking children, because he had learned from a TV program two years ago that a person could "become a TV star overnight by killing children".

Snow is expected to continue to affect parts of northern and northeastern China in the next three days, according to forecasters.

Fog and heavy snowfall disrupted traffic and caused flight delays and cancellations on Friday, with snow affecting Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hebei, Henan and Shandong provinces.

Light to moderate snowfall and sleet are expected to affect parts of northern and northeastern provinces in the next three days, the National Meteorological Center said on Friday.

After years of working in the local railway system, 35-year-old civil servant Zhai Feng thought it was time for a break.

So, he sold his house, quit his job and bought a yacht.

His wife also left her job and their daughter dropped out of school to join him on the high seas. The family set out in November from Langkawi, Malaysia.

"The sacrifices are worth the freedom," Zhai says in an online chat.

"I have nothing to lose and nothing to be angry about now that I'm barely connected to the chains of my onshore life."

With a mixture of anxiety and hope, Feng Jianlin hit the road on Tuesday to begin his fourth nationwide search for his missing daughter.

But this time, the journey will be a little different - the 38-year-old's progress will be followed by thousands of well-wishers through his micro blog.

At around 2:50 pm, Feng, along with companions Shi Richeng and Liu Liqin, set off from Taiyuan in North China's Shanxi province.

All three said they have confidence they will find their children, as well as other missing youngsters.

Nicholas Qiu, a salesman in Qingdao, Shandong province, does not usually count himself as a diehard online shopper, but he was on Sunday.

The 33-year-old stayed up until 2 am, trawling the Internet to buy clothes being sold at half-price before they could be snapped up by other shoppers. He ended up spending more than 4,300 yuan ($690) for three overcoats and a set of cutting tools.