BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital Beijing has issued an orange alert for pollution, the second-highest on China's four-level system, effective from March 12.

Heavy pollution is expected to last from March 11 through March 14 in the smog-prone city, the Beijing Municipal Environment Protection Bureau said in a statement late on Saturday.

Beijing has ordered emergency pollution-curbing measures, beginning on March 12, including industrial production reduction in response to the heavy pollution, the report said.