Shandong Iron and Steel Group Co Ltd (Shandong Steel) finally signed a merger deal on September 6 with Rizhao Iron and Steel Holding Group Co Ltd (Rizhao Steel) to inject an unspecific amount of cash into Shandong Steel Rizhao Co Ltd for 67 percent of shares, while Rizhao Steel will hold the remaining 33 percent with its net assets through perspective assessment. Rizhao Steel, a large non-governmental run steelmaker in Shandong and one of the ten largest mills in China, registered a net profit of about 1.8 billion yuan in the first half of this year; whereas Jinan Steel and Laiwu Steel, two major subsidiaries of the solely state-owned Shandong Steel that launched on March 26 last year with a registered capital of 10 billion yuan, incurred a combined loss of 1.29 billion yuan during the same period.