Beijing in partial shutdown after first-ever ‘red alert’ over pollution

Schools, businesses were closed and rush-hour roads were much quieter than normal on Tuesday in Beijing, as the city invoked its first-ever red alert for smog.

Many factories were closed and restrictions kept half the city's vehicles off the roads.

The alert - the most serious warning on a four-tier system adopted in 2013 - means authorities have forecast more than three consecutive days of severe smog. The alert coincided with the global climate change talks in Paris, where Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed “action” on greenhouse gas emissions.