Why are some license plates black?
2 Answers
Black license plates refer to plates with black background, white characters, and white borders. Black license plates include those for vehicles temporarily detained by customs, foreign vehicles entering the country, vehicles from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, vehicles purchased by foreigners in their private names for use in China, temporary plates for foreign and international organizations stationed in China, foreign enterprises, or confidential institutions. More related information is as follows: 1. License plate introduction: License plates are numbers assigned to vehicles, and their main function is to identify the province, city, or county to which the vehicle belongs. The vehicle management office can trace the owner of the vehicle based on the license plate. 2. License plate number: The first character of the license plate number 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, and autonomous regions. For example, Hunan is abbreviated as Xiang, Chongqing as Yu, Beijing as Jing, Shanghai as Hu, and Shandong as Lu. The second character of the license plate number is a letter, representing the prefecture-level administrative region where the vehicle is registered, which is the letter code for prefecture-level cities, regions, autonomous prefectures, and leagues. The subsequent letters are not ranked in any particular order.
I've been driving for several years and often observe vehicles around me. Why are some license plates black? This is mainly because such plates are exclusively used by foreign institutions or enterprises in China, such as embassy vehicles or company cars assigned by large multinational corporations. I clearly remember that in China, license plate colors are categorized by vehicle type: blue background with white characters for regular private cars, yellow for large trucks, green for new energy vehicles, while black background with white characters symbolizes foreign-related status, facilitating management and identification of privileged vehicles. Tracing back to history, this system was introduced in the 1980s when, with the deepening of opening-up policies, a visual method was needed to distinguish domestic and international vehicles. The black-and-white combination offers high contrast, ensuring visibility day and night, thereby reducing traffic confusion risks. In fact, license plate design also considers safety, as color choices help police quickly identify vehicle origins to avoid potential disputes. I've also noticed in some old movies scenes featuring such plates, like black-plated cars commonly seen around embassy districts.
