Wu Feng, owner of a Tesla Model X, is the first to install the new plate in Shanghai, on Dec 1, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A total of 1,294 special license plates have been issued to the owners of new energy vehicles in Shanghai in a week since China rolled out the pilot program to promote such vehicles and relieve pressure on energy use and the environment.

From Dec 1, authorities issued the new plates to owners of new energy vehicles in five pilot cities of Shanghai, the eastern cities of Nanjing and Wuxi, Jiangsu province, and Jinan, Shandong province, as well as the southern city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Among the 1,294 new plates issued in Shanghai, 544 were given to newly registered electricity-driven or hybrid power automobiles while the rest were issued to the owners replacing their old plates for the new ones, according to Shanghai's vehicle management authority.

The authority also said that most of the users of the new plates are small-sized vehicles, while the brands range from Tesla, Geely, Beijing, BYD, Roewe, to Chery.

A traffic police officer from the Shanghai vehicle administration department installs the first special plate on a Tesla car in Shanghai, on Dec 1, 2016. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/chinadaily.com.cn]

The new plates continue to be popular, as the official figures show that a total of 1,784 booking have been made online as of Dec 8 for the special plates, with 750 of them completed.

Different from the traditional blue license plates, the new ones are green and 40mm wider than conventional plates. The special plates have an additional digit.

For new registrations, car owners should choose a plate number from among 50 available at vehicle management registration sites. Or they can choose at www.122.gov.cn or via the smartphone app Jiaoguan 12123, both of which give them the chance to pick a number they prefer or from random numbers.

Wu Yiwei contributed to this story.