GUANGZHOU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- On Feb. 17, a taxi driver in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, picked up a little girl roaming on the street whose picture he just saw in a mobile push message.

The push message was a search notice posted on Toutiao, a popular news feed mobile app in China that runs a missing persons finder service on mobile networks.

It helped bring the missing girl back to her parents.

Working with Toutiao, Guangzhou police have helped 174 missing persons reunite with their families within 16 months by posting relevant information of the missing persons and where they went missing, as well as precisely pushing search notices to Toutiao users.

Toutiao users within a 5-10 km radius of the relevant area will receive a pop-up window on their phones. Pictures and physical features of the missing appear in the message, with the consent of family.

Guangzhou citizens are also encouraged to assist the police in looking for special groups of missing people, such as the elderly, children, and those with mental and learning difficulties.

Launched in February 2016, the missing persons service has cooperated with more than 90 public security authorities around the country and helped reunite over 700 separated families.