Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    SHENZHEN residents with hukou and residence card holders who have paid medical insurance for more than two years can apply for vehicle license plates through auctions or lotteries starting from Jan. 26, according to a draft regulation released yesterday by the city’s transportation commission to seek public opinion.

    The applicants must have a driver’s license and must not possess any vehicles under their names, according to the draft regulation.

    Shenzhen will issue 100,000 license plates a year — 88,000 to individuals and 12,000 to companies — through auctions and lotteries.

    Individuals would be required to pay a 5,000 yuan (US$794) deposit to receive an application code. With the code, which is verified by authorities, individuals can attend lotteries or auctions.

    The code will remain valid for three months and applicants can apply for extensions of validity at the website or service counters of the transportation commission.

    Corporate applicants whose tax payments reached 30,000 yuan in the previous year are eligible to receive one code.

    For every 1 million yuan in taxes the companies have paid, they will be eligible to receive one more code until they have acquired eight codes, at which point each additional code will require 2 million yuan more in paid taxes. After a company has accumulated 12 codes, the amount shifts to every 10 million in paid taxes. The codes automatically become invalid at the end of the year, at which point corporations need to reapply for them. (Continued on P3)

    The starting price for each licence plate at auctions would be 10,000 yuan.

    Car owners and companies that want to renew a car need to apply for the chance to do so within six months after completing their transfer or cancellation registration.

    A survey conducted by www.sznews.com yesterday showed that 53 percent of 2,520 respondents thought the 100,000 licence plate quota is too limited and 63.69 percent support the rule that allows owners with two cars to receive one chance to renew their licence plates. Nearly half of respondents thought the 20,000 license plate quota for electric cars is too high.

    Residents can send their feedback to szxqctk@163.com by Jan. 21.