China Province Caps New Vehicle Registrations To Tackle Pollution

As China’s air pollution woes continue to worsen, another of the country’s provinces has introduced drastic measures to curb the problem - and it’s a biggie.

The city of Shenzhen and its surrounding province in China’s south has a population of well over 15 million, and, from this year, they’ll be fighting it out for a relative handful of new vehicle licence plates.

Bloomberg reports just 100,000 new plates will be issued in Shenzhen in 2015 (and in following years), of which 20,000 will be reserved for electric vehicles.

And even that number isn’t set in concrete. Local police authorities have warned the figures are subject to change; depending on traffic volumes and air pollution during the year.

Half of the proposed 100,000 plates will be auctioned, while the other half - including the 20,000 EV plates - will be issued through a lottery draw.

Smog over China

With around three million vehicles currently registered in Shenzhen, an extra 100,000 represents a tiny 3.3 percent increase in a country whose automotive industry is easily the fastest growing in the world.

So fast in fact, that China has now passed the European Union as the world’s biggest carmaker.

But Shenzhen’s new rules are certainly not unique in China, as Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Guiyang, Hangzhou and the capital Beijing among others have also introduced restrictions to tackle the country’s spiralling car population.

China is also pushing for more local EV development and charging infrastructure to tackle its smog haze, with local internet company Leshi answering the call this week.

Shenzhen’s new vehicle registration restrictions are set to remain in place until 2020.

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