What is the difference between Shanghai A and Shanghai B license plates?
4 Answers
The differences between Shanghai A and Shanghai B license plates are: 1. Different numbering periods: Shanghai A plates were issued earlier, while Shanghai B plates were issued later. 2. Different vehicle types: Shanghai A plates are for public vehicles such as buses and trucks; Shanghai B plates are for both public and private vehicles. License plates in Shanghai include: Shanghai A, Shanghai B, Shanghai D, Shanghai E, Shanghai F, Shanghai G, Shanghai H, Shanghai J, Shanghai K, Shanghai M, Shanghai N, Shanghai C, and Shanghai R. License plates, also known as vehicle registration plates, serve the primary purpose of identifying the region to which a vehicle belongs and can be used to trace the owner and registration information of the vehicle.
Both Hu A and Hu B are license plates for urban areas in Shanghai, with the main difference being the issuance time. Hu A was the first batch of license plates issued in the early 1990s. Later, as the number of vehicles increased and the available plate numbers became insufficient, the Hu B plates were introduced. Nowadays, most vehicles with Hu A plates on the road are older cars, while Hu B plates are relatively newer. However, there is no functional difference between them—both can freely enter and exit the urban areas without any restrictions. I’ve been driving for fifteen years and have seen Hu A plates replaced with Hu B ones, which is simply a random allocation when renewing an expired plate. There’s no need to worry about which one is more prestigious. On the other hand, Hu C plates are truly different—they are suburban plates and cannot enter the outer ring road.
I also researched this issue before bidding for a Shanghai license plate, and found that there's really no difference between Hu A and Hu B. Nowadays, choosing a license plate is like opening a blind box - the letters are completely randomly assigned. Hu A doesn't necessarily mean it belongs to an older car owner, as even new energy vehicles can get license plates starting with Hu A. In practical terms, whether it's passing through ETC or entering mall parking lots, the recognition systems don't care if it's A or B. The only thing to watch out for is accidentally getting Hu C - that's the real suburban plate, and driving into the city center at night will get you ticketed for violation. So when picking a plate, just go with numbers that look good to you - the letters truly don't matter.
The difference between Shanghai A (Hu A) and Shanghai B (Hu B) license plates lies mainly in their issuance sequence. In the early days, Shanghai only had Hu A plates, and it wasn't until around 2000, when private car ownership surged, that Hu B plates were introduced. Currently, both types of plates have identical permissions and can be used for driving within the city. According to data from the Vehicle Management Office, Hu A plates account for about one-third of the total, while Hu B plates make up a quarter, with the remainder being Hu D/E, etc. Plate numbers are assigned completely at random during selection, and there is no truth to the claim that Hu A plates are more expensive. On the other hand, suburban plates like Hu C are about 70,000 to 80,000 yuan cheaper in annual fees but are restricted to driving outside the outer ring road. If opting for a city plate, the main consideration should be whether the number combination is easy to remember.
