Chinese abbreviations

China, officially the People's Republic of China issues vehicles licence plates (Chinese: 牌照; pinyin: pái zhào) at its Vehicle Management Offices, under the administration of the Ministry of Public Security.

Hong Kong and Macau, both of which are Special Administrative Regions, issue their own licence plates, a legacy of when they were under British and Portuguese administration. Vehicles from Hong Kong and Macau are required to apply for licence plates, usually from Guangdong, to travel on roads in Mainland China. Vehicles from Mainland China have to apply for Hong Kong or Macau licence plates to enter those territories. Taiwan, on the other hand, also has plates administered by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MoTC) in the Republic of China.

The number of registered cars, buses, vans, and trucks on the road in China reached 62 million in 2009, and is expected to exceed 200 million by 2020.

The font used on the plates were said to be modified from the East Asian gothic typeface, but speculations exist as the numbers and letters somewhat bear similarity with the German font DIN 1451.

In July 1986, the 1986-Series Plates were put into use. The layout and format for them are listed out as follows:

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