Thousands of plants cut production in Beijing

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

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 was applied since Beijing established the pollution precaution scheme in 2013.

As part of the "emergency response plan", 2,100 factories in the city and on its outskirts have been ordered to either stop or scale back production in an effort to cut emissions, an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, who declined to be named, told AFP.

The government was sending inspectors to the plants on a daily basis, she said. "The factories all strictly carried out the measures" as required, she added.