New plates snatched up

　　(Continued from Page 1)Some Shenzhen car owners came up with fantastic numbers, like UFO-001, and numbers incorporating FBI or CIA.In Beijing, more than 1,165 car plates were issued in the morning, with the first plate numbering 123.456. In Tianjin and Hangzhou, car owners also had to form long queues to get their ideal numbers.Authorities have tried to ease concerns that car plate “squatters” could abuse the new system to seek profits from big firms by taking up numbers containing the abbreviations of company names. All car plates will have to be changed when the cars are transferred, according to the rules.Police in the four cities have urged car owners not to rush, saying the new system will increase the limit of numbers from 340,000 to 36 million for each city, allowing vehicle owners to select their favorite numbers.The new system, which is on trial from Aug. 12 to Dec. 31, will be extended to more cities next year before it is adopted nationwide.(SD News)