Tianjin's municipal government is considering measures to control the total number of local automotives to ease air pollution and traffic congestion, said Yin Hailin, vice-mayor of Tianjin, in a CCTV program on Dec 7. But it is not decided yet whether the local government will issue license plates by lottery or auction.

On Aug 6, the Tianjin municipal government released a guideline that said "responding to the increasingly congested traffic in the city, Tianjin will consider restricting car purchases and use in proper time to prevent the too-fast growth of the number of motor vehicles".

The government also said in the document that it will build more parking garages, reduce parking on the streets and encourage residents to use public transport.

Statistics from the municipal traffic administration show that Tianjin had about 2.4 million vehicles on the road by the end of January. More than 70 percent of newly registered vehicles in the city last year were privately owned.