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China has as many drivers as there are people in US

BEIJING — China now has about the same number of licensed drivers as there are people in the United States.

BEIJING — China now has about the same number of licensed drivers as there are people in the United States.

Data from the Chinese Public Security Ministry and US census reveal that there are now more than 300 million motorists in China, compared with the American population of 319 million.

It took only four years to add 100 million new drivers in the country and 35 of its cities now have more than one million vehicles, with major urban centres such as Beijing and Shenzhen having twice that number, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The rising number of motorists will boost vehicle demand while increasing the burden on cities already struggling to cope with pollution and congestion.

The Public Security Ministry said separately this week that it is looking at making it easier to get a licence by removing the need for mandatory driver’s education classes.

Automakers are expected to sell about 23 million new vehicles this year, a forecast by the state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed. Cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou have implemented caps on the number of new cars as part of measures to control tailpipe emissions.

Although the number of drivers has risen, there have been fewer cases of major traffic accidents, the ministry said. Deaths caused by speeding accidents dropped 36 per cent in the past two years, while those from drunk driving decreased 39 per cent, it said. Bloomberg

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