Car limits painful but necessary: Guangzhou mayor  

广州市长称“限牌令”是痛苦选择 不影响汽车业

广州市长陈建华1日接受采访时称，出台汽车“限牌令”是建设责任政府的痛苦选择，他认为该项政策对广州汽车产业不会受到大影响。

Guangzhou (CNS) -- It is a painful decision to start limiting car registrations, but the measure will have no lasting impact on the auto industry in our city, said Chen Jianhua, mayor of Guangzhou City on August 1.

Chen said the new policy is to solve traffic congestion in the city, save energy and reduce carbon emissions. The local government will hear the public response after a one year implementation of these car registration limits.

The city government initiated the plan in July. Guangzhou is the fourth Chinese city to limit car registration, after Beijing, Shanghai, and Guiyang.

According to data from the city's traffic police department, Guangzhou, with a population of more than 16 million, had 2.5 million cars registered at the end of June.