Shanghai cars barred from outside registration
By Shang Ban (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-04 11:25

The metropolis and 15 neighbouring cities announced yesterday that Shanghai residents will no longer be allowed to register their cars outside and drive mainly in the city.

The agreement is widely seen to help the Shanghai authorities keep a check on vehicle population and prevent traffic jams from further worsening.

Many people from Shanghai had been circumventing the controls on new car licences by registering their vehicles in neighbouring cities.

The trend of an increasing number of Shanghai cars sporting licence plates from other places in the Yangtze River Delta started about two years ago following surging auction prices for Shanghai licences.

The latest average price of a Shanghai licence hit a record monthly high of 40,000 yuan (US$4,800) - the city's prices are the highest in the country.

According to figures released by the local transportation administration, the number of cars owned by Shanghai citizens but registered elsewhere surpassed 20,000 last year, four times the number of the previous year.

Experts warn that allowing Shanghai citizens to register their cars in other cities leads to losses - money for the purchase, road maintenance fees and insurance premiums flow out of Shanghai while the vehicles make full use of the city's road resources.

In addition, these cars create many problems to these cities: loan payments are delayed, cars are not brought in time for annual inspections and it is difficult to impose penalties for accidents or illegal parking.

Alaxia Li, a computer engineer in her late 20s whose family bought a car in December, said she was not swayed by a friend who registered his car in Kunshan, and forked out 40,050 yuan (US$4,820) for a Shanghai licence.

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