Nanjing city may limit car licence plate issuance to check jams

By REUTERS | 26 July 2016


BEIJING: China's eastern Nanjing city is studying whether to restrict the issuance of vehicle licence plates, a policy enacted in other major cities that is blamed for severely curtailing car sales, according to a government report posted Monday.

If Nanjing enacted such a policy, it would be the first city to restrict plate issuance since a downturn in the auto market began last year as economic growth weakened, prompting the government to support sales through a tax cut on small-engine cars.

Similar plate restrictions enacted in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou policies helped shift rapid sales growth in the world's largest auto market from major metropolises into lower-tier cities. The city is studying a wide range of policies to reduce traffic including congestion fees and limiting which days certain number plates can drive, according to a report posted on the city government website.

Vehicle sales in China increased 8.1 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2016, outpacing a forecast of 6 percent growth for the whole year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

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