Hangzhou perplexed by leak of car restriction rules  

杭州限牌前夕网曝新闻通稿 政府称会追查泄漏原因

A newsletter online says that the city will issue car ownership restrictions from March 26 and elaborates the plan exactly as it was detailed at the conference Tuesday.

Hangzhou (ECNS) -- East China's Hangzhou city announced on Tuesday at a news briefing that it will restrict the issuance of new car licenses, but that information had already been leaked online, sparking public concerns over the security of government information, chinanews.com reported.

A newsletter had said that the city will issue car ownership restrictions from March 26 and elaborated the plan exactly as it was detailed at the conference Tuesday.

Lu Xiande, deputy director of the municipal transportation bureau, said he didn't know where the newsletter came from, "but I can't be sure that the information had not been revealed at all."

He also said government staff observed confidentiality laws, and promised to investigate the leakage of the information.

Lu also explained why such a policy is considered confidential: "It is too sensitive, and suddenly releasing it is more secure."

Many of the city's automotive 4S stores were also aware of the news beforehand. One store even sent text messages to customers and asked them to buy cars before the deadline.

Lu said the 4S stores may have fabricated a date for advertising hype.