Shanghai further tightens rules to buy cars

BEIJING: China's largest metropolis Shanghai has further tightened rules to buy cars as prospective car owners must now meet more stringent requirements to bid for a car registration plate.

Bidders must be Shanghai residents, or have at least three years of uninterrupted payments of social security or income tax.

In addition, the bidder must not have a road traffic offence in the year before bidding.

Plate auctions will be suspended as of Sunday.

The new standards will take effect from July 19, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a report by the Shanghai Urban-Rural Construction and Transportation Development Research Institute, the city has almost 2.5 million cars on its streets.

Several cities in China including Beijing have banned the direct purchase of cars to ease pressure on traffic and control pollution.

Instead prospective buyers have to obtain a number plate.

Some cities including Beijing use a lottery system.

Shanghai uses an auction system to sell a limited number of license plates to fossil-fuel car buyers every month.