Another Chinese city has capped the total number of car licence plates it will issue annually, state media said Sunday, following moves by Beijing and other metropolises to curb pollution and congestion.
The world’s most populous nation is also the world’s largest car-buyer. But it is trying to curb poor air quality and other environmental damages caused by rapid development.
Tianjin, a coastal city near Beijing with 14 million people and 2.36 million registered motor vehicles last year, will cap new car plates to 100,000 a year, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The government will award 60,000 plates by lottery, reserving 10,000 of these for fuel-efficient cars, and auction the remaining 40,000.
Of the total plates issued, 88 per cent will go to individuals and the rest to companies and other entities, while government bodies will be ineligible, Xinhua said.
Although the details were reported over the weekend, the policy was announced a week earlier and took effect five hours later, sparking “overnight panic buying”, it added.