Beijing's smog 'red alert' enters third day as toxic haze shrouds city

Factories ordered to cut back or suspend production as levels of harmful particles hit seven times their safe limits

Beijing has ordered 2,100 factories to suspend or reduce production as part of its "red alert" measures to deal with smog, the government has said, as the city remained shrouded under a toxic haze for the third consecutive day on Monday.

The Chinese capital imposed the highest tier of a four-colour smog warning system for four days starting on Saturday, the second time the red alert has been applied since Beijing established the pollution precaution scheme in 2013.