The capital city's latest vehicle-license lottery, held on Sunday, saw the widest gap between applicants and licenses as a total of 577,856 qualified candidates competed for a monthly quota of 17,600 license plates, a ratio of 32.8:1, according to figures from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

Meanwhile, 22,652 companies and government institutions competed for 4,000 license plates in the third-round lottery for commercial vehicles, which is held every two months.

To ease traffic jams, the city will only issue 240,000 new license plates this year, one-third the number of last year, with a monthly average of 17,600.

However, 187,420 qualified applicants, 10 times more than the number of plates available, participated in the first draw in January, and the gap has widened since then.

According to the new measures, individuals who didn't win the lottery will be automatically included in the following month's draw, and this has greatly added to the number of participants.

"I won't cancel my application, and will buy a car as soon as I win the lottery," said Beijing resident Zhu Li'an, 27, despite failing in the lottery's six rounds since January.

However, Zhu suggested that the lottery and traffic-easing policies should draw more practical ideas from the public for further improvement.

He is dissatisfied that the regulations allow members of one family to apply at the same time to increase their chances when they need only one car.

"For example, a couple I know have both been applying since January, although neither has a license yet."

Previous reports say some residents only applied out of fear that obtaining license plates might become more difficult in the future, and some winners have not taken the opportunity to buy cars, as regulations allow them to reapply a month after their registration right expires in six months.