Beijing's recent effort to improve the city's glued traffic conditions has panicked people into a car-buying spree, the Beijing News reported.

A new regulation introduced Thursday would reduce the number of new car licenses issued next year by one third. A total of 9,000 cars were presumably sold yesterday in Beijing, the largest single-day auto sale in history, which would make the total number of vehicles in the capital 4.8 million.

A car dealer remains open at midnight around 23:55 in Beijing on Dec 23, 2010. [Xinhua]