New Regulations Provoke Car Buying Frenzy Across Beijing

Rumors and speculation over regulations attempting to limit the torrent of new cars that appear on Beijing streets every day have been swirling around for weeks. Now it seems limits are going into effect, a move that has provoked a frenzy of car buying madness across the capital.

According to this morning’s Global Times the new regulations take effect today. In the next year the city will only license 240,000 new vehicles, allocated through a lottery system. To give some perspective on what this means, over 700,000 cars were licensed in 2010. The scope for – ahem – “underhand dealings” in the new system is breathtaking.

Ironically – though predictably – the regulation has provoked the biggest car buying spike in the capital’s history. Just last month Beijing set a new record as the number of new cars registered in a week doubled to 18,000. This past week the number skyrocketed to an astounding 30,000!

The Guardian pointed out today that at the current rate Beijing will hit the 5 million vehicle mark by February – a mere 14 months after we passed the 4 million mark. In late 2009 locals were shocked that Beijing had gone from 3 to 4 million in a short 2 years.

The person feeling the immediate fallout from the sudden surge is former vice mayor for traffic management, Huang Wei, who, according to the New York Times, “resigned Thursday and was reassigned to remote western China, the exile destination of choice for those out of favor.” Some Chinese traditions just never die.

The lack of parking for all these cars, and the possibility that plates will not be issued for cars without their own parking spaces, has led to overnight campouts and fights among residents vying for the mere hundreds of spaces in communities of thousands.

Everyone may enjoy some extra congestion this evening as we blogged earlier this week. Consider it Beijing's Christmas gift to everyone.

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"reassigned to remote western China,"

Sent to the western front...

lauren_mccarthy wrote:

former vice mayor for traffic management, Huang Wei, who, according to the New York Times, “resigned Thursday and was reassigned to remote western China, the exile destination of choice for those out of favor.”

According the the BBC the remote western exile destination of China is Xinjiang.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12072845

Deputy Managing Web Editor

4. Anyone with the right connections and a large red envelope.

Register and post your own events on the beijinger website.

Who can enter the lottery:

1. Anyone that does not have a car already registered in the city.

2. Must have a valid drive license.

3. People that live in Beijing, which is the following:
People with residence registration of the municipality in Beijing; people in active military service of troop in Beijing (including armed police forces); people from Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao and foreign countries; people who have working residence permit; people who held temporary residence certificate and pay more than five consecutive years personal income tax payment of social insurance and personnel.

Deputy Managing Web Editor

The China Daily notes that the lottery is restricted to Beijing permanent residents and "foreigners who lived in the capital for at least one year." Chinese citizens without a Beijing permanent residence permit will need to provide proof that they've been paying social security and personal income tax for five consecutive years.

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

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