You need basic knowledge about where the Chinese plates belong.

In China, not only are the motor vehicle plates “identity cards” for vehicles, but their prefix codes also contain very clear information about geo-administrative information. This tool helps you quickly decipher the city ' s affiliation behind these codes.

1. Code rules for car plate numbers

Chinese civil car licence plate No. 1 The number of persons registered in the Republic of China is Chinese and represents the number of administrative departments (provinces, municipalities directly under the Central Government, autonomous regions) in which the car is located. For example, “Kyo” represents Beijing, “Kyo” represents Guangdong and “Su” represents Jiangsu.

Paragraph 2 It is composed of letters representing the municipality, state or territory in which the vehicle is located. The letter “A” is usually left to the provincial administrative centre (e.g. Guangzhou and Chengdu). The subsequent alphabet is generally based on historical factors such as the time order of establishment of local municipalities or the size of the population/economics.

2. Why do cities have multiple license plates?

With economic development and the surge in car holdings, the original car plate numbers (such as a net number or single letter combination) have been depleted in many large cities. Therefore, new alphanumeric codes will be introduced for these municipalities. For example:

Chengdu: The Kawakawa G was later officially activated because of saturation of the Kawakawa A plates.
Aoshima: In addition to the old-fashioned Rub, the words “ruu” were added.
Beijing/Shanghai: City of the TerritoryIt's...Word母andNo, no.代表Land级市And...Press批Number of timesLet's go.放orDistinctionOkay.驶Area.For example:“沪C”Yes.极Yes特殊It's...Existence，It's...Yes.ShanghaiIt's...Suburban牌照，Year-roundBan驶EnterShanghai外环Here.内It's...Urban。

3. Traffic restrictions and licence plates

Before undertaking a self-drive or cross-provincial city business trip, it is of paramount importance to search for the location of the licence plates and to understand the local “outside restrictions policy”. Many front-line cities (such as Beijing's entry policy, Guangzhou's “Four Stop” and Shenzhen's early and late peaks) have strict restrictions on off-site licence plates. Pre-confirmation of whether your licence plate is restricted at the destination will avoid unnecessary fines for violation.