China experienced a record high of 18.71 million motor vehicles newly registered in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
As of the end of June this year, the country had 384 million motor vehicles overall, including 292 million cars, the ministry data showed.
The number of licensed motor vehicle drivers was at 469 million, of which 431 million were car drivers.
More than 1.1 million new-energy cars were registered in the first half of 2021, also a record high for the same period in any year, the ministry said.
The number represents an over 200 percent increase from the same period last year and represents almost eight percent of the total car registrations.
By the end of June, the country had 6.03 million new-energy vehicles, which is 2.06 percent of the overall number of cars in the country.
Overall, 13.9 million people obtained their driver’s licenses in H1, increasing almost 91 percent from the same period last year, said the ministry. It added that China has almost 16.6 million motor-vehicle drivers over the age of 60, increasing 16 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
Seventy-four Chinese cities had over 1 million cars by the end of June, five more cities than end-June last year. Beijing has more than 6 million cars, and Chengdu and Chongqing each have over 5 million, according to the ministry.
Under regular epidemic control measures, traffic management departments throughout the nation have continued to handle business online, with almost 44.5 million applications involving motor vehicles and driver’s licenses carried out online in H1.
