China to digitize vehicle registration licenses

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China will pilot the digitization of motor vehicle registration licenses starting in July to improve the traffic management services, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced on Thursday.

The reform measure will initially be implemented in 60 cities, including Beijing and Tianjin, and will be fully promoted nationwide by the end of the year, according to the ministry.

Chinese law requires drivers to carry both their driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates while driving.

Previously, the digitization of motor vehicle annual inspection marks and driving licenses had been fully implemented. Traffic management authorities have issued 1.475 billion electronic inspection marks and 250 million electronic driving licenses.

By the end of May 2024, the total number of motor vehicles in China had reached 440 million, including 340 million cars (excluding motorcycles and trucks), and the number of drivers had reached 530 million.

China ranks first in the world in terms of the total number of motor vehicles and drivers.

Wang Qiang, director of the traffic management bureau of the MPS, said that in recent years, more than 100 reform measures have been introduced, helping to reduce costs by over 100 billion yuan (about 14 billion U.S. dollars).

The MPS has also launched a unified mobile app called "Jiaoguan 12123," or "traffic management 12123," which can provide 35 types of traffic related services. Currently, the app has 540 million registered users.