China's capital Beijing has broken its record for hours of sub-zero temperatures in December dating back to 1951, after a cold wave swept swathes of the country and brought blizzards in its wake, sending temperatures towards historic lows.

Northern and northeastern parts of the country have experienced a record-breaking chill since last week, with some areas in the northeast hitting minus 40 Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit) and below as biting cold air flowed down from the Arctic.

As of Sunday (December 24), a weather observatory in Beijing had recorded more than 300 hours of below-freezing temperatures since December 11, the most for the month since records began in 1951, according to state-backed Beijing Daily.

The capital has also endured nine consecutive days of temperatures below minus 10 C (14 F) in this period, the Beijing Daily added.

(Inputs from Reuters)