How Long Can a Beijing License Plate Be Left Unused?
2 Answers
Effective for 6 months, applicants must complete all procedures including vehicle purchase tax payment, issuance of used car sales invoices, and vehicle registration with the national tax, industrial and commercial, and vehicle management departments within 6 months from the date of obtaining the indicator. Failure to complete these procedures within the deadline will be regarded as automatic abandonment of the indicator. Related information: 1. Conditions for retaining a transferred license plate: apply within six months after completing the transfer registration or cancellation registration, the original vehicle owner must have owned the original vehicle for more than three years, and all road traffic violations and accident liabilities related to the original vehicle must be settled. 2. License plate: The first character of the license plate is a Chinese character representing the abbreviation of the (province, municipality, autonomous region), and the second character is an English letter representing the prefecture-level administrative region where the vehicle is registered, which is the letter code for each (prefecture-level city, region, autonomous prefecture, league).
As an ordinary citizen, I recently dealt with the issue of my idle Beijing license plate, and it's important to note that the duration of license plate idleness mainly depends on policy. In Beijing's lottery system, once you win a quota, you must complete the vehicle registration and licensing procedures within 12 months, otherwise the quota will expire and become invalid. After that, if the vehicle is out of use, the license plate can remain idle with the car for many years, provided the vehicle undergoes regular annual inspections and maintenance. My neighbor once left a license plate idle for over a year without registering it, resulting in the automatic invalidation of the quota, forcing them to re-enter the lottery, which was quite troublesome. Other considerations include parking space and insurance costs: some residential areas in Beijing charge fees for idle vehicles, so it's advisable not to delay too long, as policy changes could pose risks. In short, from both safety and cost perspectives, it's best not to leave a license plate idle for more than a year—timely registration is key.
