199 Million Vehicles

15 Oct 2010 - The number of vehicles on mainland roads has hit 199 million, as was yesterday reported in the SCMP. The 199 million include more than 85 million cars, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Public Security yesterday (it is a bit unexpected that this Ministry made the statement - the Chinese leadership must be concerned about the dangers of all those vehicles on the roads?). The Ministry's definition of motor vehicles includes motorcycles, tractors, trucks and cars. A total of 205 million mainlanders have learned to drive (or at least they have passed the test). Of these, 144 million have learned to drive cars, the Ministry said. The number of vehicles on the mainland is increasing at a rate of more than 20 million a year and the number of drivers is growing at more than 22 million a year. China overtook the United States to become the world's largest carmaker and market last year.