The Civilian Motor Vehicle License Plate of the People's Republic of China refers to the legal identifier that allows civilian motor vehicles, registered with authorized agencies, to operate on roads within the territory of the People's Republic of China. This license plate is a part of the motor vehicle license plate system of the People's Republic of China. License plates are typically displayed in designated positions on motor vehicles, and their numbers correspond to the vehicle registration number. The current coding system and format, known as the 92-style license plate, have been in use since 1992 and were revised in 2008 and 2010. Starting from December 1, 2016, license plates for new energy vehicles began to be issued, initially piloted in five cities: Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuxi, Jinan, and Shenzhen. The pilot issuance areas have since expanded to other cities nationwide.
On August 12, 2002, Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen trialed the issuance of the 2002-style motor vehicle license plates, but the issuance was urgently halted on August 22, 2002.
History
editAfter the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, local public security agencies began issuing vehicle license plates independently, resulting in varying standards and numbering methods across different regions. In October 1950, official issuance of automobile license plates began, using sequential motor vehicle license plates, with numbers arranged in ascending order based on provinces. Starting in 1960, the Ministry of Public Security standardized the size, color, and material of the plates, and arranged the numbering according to the sequence of provinces, cities, and autonomous regions nationwide. The sequential motor vehicle license plates underwent four generations of changes.
In August 1986, the Ministry of Public Security began issuing the fifth generation of motor vehicle license plates. These plates were modeled after Japanese vehicle plates and featured two rows. The first row, with smaller characters, indicated the issuing authority using the format "name of the provincial-level administrative region + two-digit area code," with area codes following a sequence roughly similar to the current "92-style" license plates. The second row consisted of a mix of five Arabic numerals and Latin letters. Regarding the plate colors, small car plates had a green background with white characters, large car plates had a red background with white characters, foreign vehicles had a black background with red characters, and training vehicles had a blue background with white characters. Since these plates were first issued in 1986, they are also referred to as the "86-style" plates.
In 1992, the Ministry of Public Security began piloting the 1992-style motor vehicle license plates in cities such as Ürümqi and Daqing. These plates are the same type that are currently issued. Starting in 1994, these plates were distributed nationwide.
In August 2002, Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen piloted the "2002" motor vehicle license plates. These plates covered four types of vehicles: large automobiles, small automobiles, motorcycles, and mopeds. The plate numbers could be customized by vehicle owners, consisting of six Latin letters or digits, which increased the number capacity by more than 100 times. The plates incorporated advanced anti-counterfeiting technology and were managed entirely through computerized digital systems. Each plate contained a vehicle identification code that was bound to the vehicle and could not be separated from it. The trial was originally planned to run from August 12 to December 31 in the mentioned regions, but it was halted just 10 days later due to "technical reasons." Subsequent vehicle transfers would revert to the 92-style plates. It is said that the current traffic management monitoring systems cannot recognize violations committed by vehicles with the 02-style plates.
On October 6, 2008, several cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, began issuing custom motor vehicle license plate numbers. The display format of these plates is the same as the 1992-style motor vehicle license plates, but the last five characters can be chosen by the vehicle owner, with each city having its own rules for plate number coding. For example, in Beijing, only four digits and one Latin letter are allowed, whereas in Shenzhen, up to two Latin letters can be included. The original method of selecting license plate numbers also remains in use, operating alongside the new custom plate number option.
On November 21, 2016, the Ministry of Public Security announced that, starting from December 1, 2016, five cities—Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuxi, Jinan, and Shenzhen—would pilot the issuance of license plates for new energy vehicles (NEVs). Based on public opinion surveys conducted by the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security from April to May 2016, the design with the highest votes was selected as the final format. The NEV license plate numbers have one additional digit compared to ordinary vehicle plates, making them six digits long.
During the pilot period, NEV license plates would be issued to newly purchased NEVs registered in the five pilot cities. For already registered NEVs, owners could choose to voluntarily replace their existing plates with the new NEV plates. NEVs newly purchased and registered outside the pilot cities continued to receive the 92-style license plates. Additionally, the Ministry of Public Security planned to study and improve the design of ordinary vehicle license plates.
Starting at 9 a.m. on December 1, the first NEV license plates were issued in the five pilot cities, with the following license numbers: 苏A·D09999 (Nanjing), 苏B·D00100 (Wuxi), 沪A·D00806 (Shanghai), 粤B·F03030 (Shenzhen), and 鲁A·D11111 (Jinan). As of August 2017, 76,000 NEV license plates had been issued in the five pilot cities.
According to the Ministry's schedule, from November 2017, NEV license plates began to be issued in Baoding (Hebei), Changchun (Jilin), Fuzhou (Fujian), Qingdao (Shandong), Zhengzhou (Henan), Zhongshan (Guangdong), Liuzhou (Guangxi), Chongqing, Chengdu (Sichuan), and Kunming (Yunnan). By the end of December 2017, in addition to direct-controlled municipalities, provincial capitals, and autonomous region capitals, at least one to two cities in each province (region) would begin issuing NEV license plates. By the first half of 2018, all cities nationwide would fully implement the issuance of NEV license plates.