Some of the cargo trucks were fully loaded, which made the vehicles harder to stop, the report said.
The expressway was reopened on Monday afternoon, the statement said.
The accidents also caused a traffic jam on the expressway, and local authorities closed 20 onramps in the western part of Shandong province, according to the official micro blog of Shandong expressway authorities.
Heavy fog also forced the closure of parts of four other highways in Shandong on Monday.
Heavy fog is expected to continue in parts of East China on Tuesday, with Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces among the most severely affected areas, the China Meteorological Administration said in a statement.
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