Beijing adds 390k vehicles in 2 yrs, a big drop

Over the past two years, about 390,000 motor vehicles have been registered in Beijing, less than half of those in 2010, according to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

The slowdown in car registrations followed the launch of the license plate lottery system in 2011. Beijing will continue implementing the license plate lottery policy, maintaining the current quota, People's Daily reported Friday, citing vice-chairman of the commission Li Xiaosong.

More diversified ways of distributing plates are expected to be issued soon.

The lottery system reduced new car registrations to 240,000 in both 2011 and 2012, 20,000 per month, 88 percent of which belong to private car owners. The increase in motor cars in 2011 amounted to 173,000, 610,000 less than that in 2010.

In the past, motor vehicles in Beijing increased rapidly, rising from 2.58 million in 2005 to 4.81 million in 2010. The year 2010 alone saw 790,000 more units. By the end of 2012, the total number reached 5.2 million, 216,000 more than that in 2011, a 4.3 percent increase.