http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-07/11/content_15567125.htm
Guangzhou, which will limit car registrations starting this month, plans to introduce public auctions and a lottery to grant new car license plates in the following months.
Xian Weixiong, director of the Guangzhou commission of transport, said that a lottery embodies the principle of fairness, while public auctions can help those who really want to buy their cars get the license plates.
"Funds raised from auctioning license plates will only be used to develop the city's public transport system," Xian said on Tuesday.
Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital, will grant no more than 10,000 new car license plates a month starting in July.
"In the coming months, we will auction off 5,000 car license plates and have a lottery for another 5,000 every month," Xian said.
"The city's relevant departments have learned from Beijing and Shanghai's experience," said Xian, who is also vice-chairman of the Guangzhou Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Beijing, which started limiting car registrations in 2011, allowed 240,000 vehicles to be registered last year via monthly lotteries. Shanghai introduced a public auction system to grant new license plates in 1994.
Zheng Fenming, director of the Institute of Modernization Strategies under the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, said relevant departments should increase the number of car license plates granted via public auctions to increase the costs of owning a car.
"Those who are not rich enough should not be so eager to buy cars," Zheng said.