Special coverage: New traffic rules hit auto market

The Beijing transport authority on Sunday revealed it had received 215,425 new car license applications, after this month's application period closed late Saturday night.

But only one tenth of the applicants will get license plates this month, as only 20,000 new license plates are now issued each month in Beijing under its new license plate lottery system, or 240,000 for the year.

Beijing launched the new system on Jan. 1. Under it, car license applications are received in the first 8 days of the month, and then a lottery is held on the 26th day of the month.

In 2010, a record 800,000 new cars came onto Beijing's roads.