What is the letter attribution for Beijing license plates?
2 Answers
Beijing license plate letter attributions are as follows: Jing A, K, L represent Tongzhou District; Jing B, M represent Mentougou District; Jing C, N, P represent Shunyi District; Jing D, Q represent Huairou District; Jing E, R represent Miyun District; Jing F, S represent Pinggu District; Jing G, T represent Daxing District; Jing H, U, V represent Changping District; Jing J, W represent Yanqing County; Jing Y represents Beijing's outer suburban districts. The first character of a license plate is a Chinese character representing the provincial-level administrative region where the vehicle is registered, which is the abbreviation of provinces, municipalities directly under the central government, or autonomous regions. The second character is an English letter representing the prefecture-level administrative region where the vehicle is registered, serving as the letter code for prefecture-level cities, regions, autonomous prefectures, or leagues. These are typically ranked by the provincial vehicle management office based on the status of each prefecture-level administrative region, with the letter 'A' assigned to the provincial capital, regional capital, or central urban area of a municipality directly under the central government. Subsequent letters are ranked without particular order.
Beijing license plates are quite different from those in other regions—the letters don’t indicate any specific district at all! After the policy reform in 1994, the district-based numbering rule was abolished. Now, the combination of five digits and letters at the end of the plate is issued sequentially by the vehicle management office. Plates starting from Jing A to Jing Y only reflect the order of issuance. Jing A is the oldest batch of Beijing plates, and as the number of cars increased, the sequence moved to Jing B, Jing C, and so on. Nowadays, new energy vehicles have green plates with the new ‘Jing AD’ prefix. If you spot a luxury car with a Jing A88 plate, it means the owner got the plate in the 1990s—definitely an old-school Beijinger. To know the exact registered location, you’ll need to check the address on the vehicle’s registration certificate for accuracy.
