THE BUZZ: Shenzhen restricts car purchases to ease congestion

Authorities in Shenzhen announced a car purchasing restriction requiring prospective buyers to acquire new car plates by lottery or auction yesterday.
Starting from 6 p.m. yesterday, 100,000 new vehicle plates will be allocated annually for the city, including 20,000 electric cars, said Chen Huigang, deputy director of the city’s traffic and transport commission, quoted by state agency Xinhua.
The number may be adjusted later based on road capacity and air pollution, Chen said. Half of the plates will be distributed through lottery and the other half by auction, he said.
In the future, the auction may be connected with carbon emission trading, he said, not offering any details.
Xu Wei, deputy head of traffic police bureau of the city, said vehicles with non-Shenzhen plates will be forbidden during rush hours on weekdays if they are not from Hong Kong or Macau.
The number of vehicles in Shenzhen exceeded 3 million by September.