The public auction of Guangzhou car plates on Monday attracted few bidders. A total of 357 buyers, comprised of residents and companies, won the bid at the 10,000 yuan ($1,605) initial price, but 5,050 out of the 8,379 available plates were unsold, Guangzhou Daily reported Tuesday.

Only 3,349 car plates found owners and the remaining license plates will be transferred to the next round of bidding, which is expected to take place around March 25.

The average price of a license plates sold for private cars was 10,573 yuan, 281 yuan less than that of the last auction on Jan 25, while a plate for company vehicles was sold for an average of 11,762 yuan, 821 yuan less than last auction.

Under Guangzhou's car plate quota system, 1,594 plates were offered this month for company vehicles and 6,785 for private cars. The total amount of 8,379, which is 556 fewer than that of the previous auction in January, marked the fourth consecutive monthly drop since the first auction on Nov 25, 2012.

Guangzhou introduced a system to govern the issuance of car license plates for new cars last year. Car owner may obtain a plate through lotteries or online public auctions once a month. The first auction was held on Oct 28, 2012, and seven auctions have been held since.