Traffic jams in Beijing are worsening with each passing day. The city now has 4.76 million vehicles compared to 2.6 million in 2005 with nearly 2,000 new cars hitting the road each day. Now China's going to sharply limit the number of new vehicles by registering only to let 40,000 vehicles next year, which will be decided by a licence plate lottery system. But these restrictions are expected to be unpopular with China's middle class, at a news conference held to announce these measures. One car owner tried to question the move, but was prevented from doing so.
Please take him out of here, this is a news conference, please don’t disturb the order of the news conference, if you have any questions, we can discuss it afterwards.
People on the streets of Beijing felt: the government should not interfere in private car ownership. But experts say tackling car jams in the capital city is an urgent priority for the government. However, the clever public had already anticipated the new limits and went on a buying spree last week. Nearly 30,000 new vehicles were registered in the past week alone, at least 3 times the normal rate. One car salesman said many of the most popular car brands had already sold out.
