IANS | 17 Feb, 2012
The number of registered car owners in Beijing crossed five million in February, the traffic department said Thursday.

A total of 5.017 million cars were registered in Beijing as of Feb 15. The average monthly increase in new car owners in 2010 was 66,000, Xinhua reported.

The government has been trying to limit the number of cars in Beijing to stop pollution and traffic congestion.

Since January 2011, it has launched a new rule aimed at reducing the number of vehicles. As per the rule, new vehicle owners can plate obtain a license only through a monthly lottery draw run by the government.

Last year's quota was set at 240,000, about a third of the number of cars registered in Beijing in 2010. The quota system will restrict the number of car owners to six million in 2016.