Beijing is to slash the number of license plates it hands out for new cars by one-third in an effort to ease traffic congestion and pollution. Some people are buying struggling small businesses that hold vehicle registrations to avoid having to enter the capital’s license plate lottery. Currently there are 150,000 plates available every year – 90,000 for gas-powered vehicles and 60,000 for new-energy vehicles. However, from 2018, only 100,000 will be available per year, Zhou Zhengyu, Director of the Beijing Transport Commission said. The aim is to limit the number of cars in Beijing to 6.3 million by 2020. At the latest lottery, just one in every 754 entrants received a plate.