How to distinguish between the number 0 and the letter O on license plates?

[Elsie]

There is no need to distinguish between the number 0 and the letter O on license plates because only the number 0 is used, not the letter O. According to Article 5.9.1 of the current Chinese motor vehicle license plate standard "GA36-2007," "Each digit of the serial number can use English letters individually, but the letters 'O' and 'I' among the 26 letters cannot be used." Therefore, there is no need to distinguish between '0' and 'O' or 'I' and '1,' as what you usually see are the numbers '0' and '1.' However, it is important to note that the letter O is not used in the serial number of the license plate but is still used in the letter code of the license plate, such as "Yue O" (Guangdong O) or "Chuan O" (Sichuan O). According to Article 5.9.1 of the "Chinese Motor Vehicle License Plate Standard," there are three rules for serial number encoding: Each digit of the serial number uses Arabic numerals; each digit of the serial number can use English letters individually, but the letters 'O' and 'I' among the 26 English letters cannot be used; the serial number can include 2 English letters, but the letters 'O' and 'I' among the 26 English letters cannot be used. In addition to the provincial abbreviation and city code (e.g., "Hu A" for Shanghai), the license plate number is followed by 5 digits. The origin of license plate numbers dates back to Paris in the 1890s when the rapid increase in automobiles necessitated marking vehicles with specific symbols for management. In China, license plates were first introduced in Shanghai in 1911. Due to the large number of vehicles, it became clear that 2-3 digits were insufficient, and 5 digits were determined to be the optimal number after research. Different cities have different regional letter codes. For example, Guangzhou in Guangdong Province uses "Yue A," while Shenzhen uses "Yue B." The letter A represents the capital city of each province, and B represents the second-largest city in the province, arranged based on factors such as administrative area, total population, and economic strength.