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Extra 2,000 cars on roads everyday

By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-18 08:44

About 2,000 cars are being purchased in Beijing every day, new figures show.

About 60,100 cars were bought in the capital in August, the sharpest spike in growth this year, shows data from Yayuncun Car Market, the biggest automobile dealer in Beijing.

In August 2008, Beijingers purchased just 29,500 cars because of the government's strict car policies during the Olympic Games.

The new data showed private individuals, not companies, purchased 86 percent of the cars last month.

Also, sales on the number of second-hand cars and low-emission cars sharply increased.

Yesterday, analysts said they expected the increase in sales to last until the end of this year.

It is also expected that the total number of cars on Beijing roads will hit a colossal 4 million by the end of this year, surpassing major Asian cities including Seoul.

That means Beijing's car community will expand by 1 million cars in two years. It normally takes major cities in developed nations 10 years to achieve that growth rate.

Authorities have attempted to ease traffic jams and cut down pollution with an on-going car ban, which stops motorists from driving one day each week based on their license plate numbers after the Olympics.

But many car owners in the capital have bought a second car, even a third, to deal with the inconvenience.

"Many rich people told me they must buy cars, and the roads have become obviously more crowded after they do," said Liu Changfu, a 50-year-old motorist.

Beijing's transport authorities said there was no plan to stop drivers from buying new cars.

"The issue is not restricting car numbers, but making the traffic in Beijing more efficient with better public transportation and better roads," Beijing's transportation chief Liu Xiaoming said.

Motorist Philip Tinari said he was happy to not drive for one day if it meant less traffic on the roads.

"A car is not the only mode of transportation for me. If there is too much traffic, I will go take the subway," he said.

Mao Baohua, a transportation professor with the Beijing Jiaotong University, said there is nothing wrong with automobile ownership.

"But the government must improve public transport quickly to give everybody a smooth ride," he added.

(China Daily 09/18/2009 page25)