BEIJING, Feb 22 ― Beijing’s air pollution reached 11 times World Health Organisation-recommended levels today, as the country’s meteorological department forecast smog in north and central China to continue.

The concentration of PM2.5, fine particulates that pose the greatest risk to human health, was 290 micrograms per cubic meter at 3 p.m. near the city’s Tiananmen Square, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre said on its website. The WHO recommends levels of no higher than 25 micrograms per cubic meter in 24 hours.

China’s National Meteorological Centre also forecast smog to continue in the north and central regions of the country, and issued a yellow alert for air pollution, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported earlier.

Beijing raised its air pollution alert to orange yesterday as smog levels were projected to stay hazardous this weekend, triggering orders for some enterprises to limit production and a ban on outdoor barbecues and fireworks. Pollution in Beijing and Shanghai placed them among the least hospitable of 40 international cities listed in a report by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, which ranked China’s capital second from bottom, ahead of Moscow.

Provinces including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have experienced heavy smog since Thursday, according to Xinhua, citing China’s meteorological agency. The agency forecast then that the smog would continue for a week as no cold front was in sight to disperse it. ― Bloomberg