What are the rules for self-selecting license plate numbers in Beijing?
2 Answers
Beijing's license plate numbering rules for the last 5 digits are as follows: 1. Rule 1: The first 4 digits can only have 1 English letter, which can be freely positioned among the 4 digits, while the other 3 digits must be numbers. Additionally, for vehicles with suburban plates, the selected letter must be between "N" and "Z", as letters "A" to "M" were already used in previous numbering systems. 2. Rule 2: The 5th digit must be a number, not a letter. More details about online number selection are as follows: 1. Rule 1: Considering network pressure, after successful login verification, the vehicle owner must complete the self-selection within 20 minutes. If the selection is not completed within the time limit, the system will automatically terminate the process, and the owner will need to log in again to restart the online selection, which can be done multiple times without limitation. 2. Rule 2: The selected number is reserved for 3 working days. After this period, the number will not be retained and will be randomly returned to the license plate resource pool. During this time, vehicles that have successfully selected a number online are not allowed to re-select or modify the submitted information via the internet.
When I bought a car in Beijing, I personally experienced the self-selection of license plates. The rules are actually quite simple: the license plate number must start with 'Jing,' such as Jing A or Jing B representing different series, followed by five characters, which can be a mix of numbers and letters, but letters O and I are excluded to avoid confusion with numbers 0 and 1. When I self-selected on the DMV app, I entered my desired number like 'Jing A AB123,' and the system checked its availability and ensured it didn’t contain sensitive words, such as political content. Good numbers are highly competitive because Beijing’s purchase restrictions make license plates scarce, so I prepared several combinations in advance. The whole process took less than 20 minutes and was hassle-free, but remember not to aim for overly personalized ones to avoid rejection. After periodic policy updates, you can also change your plate once for free—this rule balances respect for car owners’ preferences with traffic management standards.
