State-run search engine shows signs of shutting down  

即刻搜索或关停:仅剩4项服务 搜索结果跳转至盘古

Screenshots of Jike.com on Oct. 8 and Nov. 4.

(ECNS) -- Jike.com, a search engine backed by a prominent state-run media organization, is redirecting searches and some of its key features are gone, signs that it may be shutting down, the Beijing News reports.

On Monday, sections of Jike.com's homepage, including "Food Safety" and "Exposé Stand," which aggregates news of problematic products, had disappeared, leaving only basic functions such as search, news, photos and videos.

However, the search results page jumped to Panguso.com, a search engine jointly operated by Xinhua News Agency and the nation's biggest telecom operator China Mobile.

Jike.com was set up in 2010 by the newspaper People's Daily and a listed company for People's Daily Online. Its CEO Deng Yaping, a former world ping-pong champion and one of country's most successful athletes, is one of the best-known names in China.

It was rumored that the two state-run search engines would merge in the near future, according to a report in August, yet Jike later denied such a possibility.