December witnessed the price of a Shenzhen license plate rise over RMB95,000, the highest in the nation, in another (unwelcome) sign of booming economic growth for China’s Silicon Valley.
Since 2014 the traffic-congested southern city has imposed an annual quota of 100,000 approvals for new vehicles, with 60 percent offered by lottery and 40 percent available by public auction. Electric vehicles are not subject to the restriction but everyone else has to wait for their number to come up, or shell out nearly as much cash as the cost of the car itself.
READ MORE: Guangdong Woman Busted for Fake License Plate from Taobao
Nikkei Asian Review reports that December’s winning bid of RMB95,103 was two and a half times the price seen at the beginning of 2017.
Guangzhou saw an 85 percent jump in the cost of a new license plate in that time and Shanghai’s winning bid (RMB92,848) is barely cheaper than Shenzhen’s. That city hasn’t auctioned a plate for less than RMB90,000 since June.
Shenzhen’s plates cost under RMB50,000 before August 2017, when restrictions on non-local plates were expanded. They’ve since jumped by more than RMB10,000 each month.
With no end in sight for China’s auto fixation, who knows how much higher it will go?
[Image via Wikimedia]
0 User Comments