Guiyang lifts restrictions on the number of license plate issued in downtown area to boost vehicle sales

Guiyang, the capital of southwest China’s Guizhou province, has eased its previous restrictions on issuing special license plates for vehicles in order to boost vehicle sales. The city becomes the first one to work on ending restrictions on new-vehicle sales.

Guiyang started issuing special license plates for vehicles permitted to drive in its downtown area in 2011 and in order to restrict traffic; it capped the number of license plate to 2,000 per month.

According to the Guiyang city government website, they have lifted that restriction effective Sept. 12. Guiyang had a fleet of 2.05 million vehicles at the end of 2018.

To boost the new-vehicle market, which is expected to fall for the second straight year in 2019, Beijing has urged China’s major cities to take back practices and rules that limit sales. Three cities have lifted such restrictions so far.

In June, Guangzhou and Shenzhen agreed to allow 100,000 and 80,000 new vehicles respectively to be sold locally from June 2019 to the end of 2020, on top of existing annual quotas.

Other major cities haven’t yet responded to the central government’s appeal.