Recent statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that Beijing has 229.33 vehicles on the road for every 1,000 people, making it the country's most congested city, sources reported. The capital is already known for having more vehicles than any other city.

With its substantial number of automobile buyers, Beijing has seen its number of cars rise dramatically over the past decade. The city broke the two million, three million and four million barriers in August 2003, May 2007 and December 2009, respectively. According to government plans, there are 240,000 new registration plates to be issued this year, meaning that by 2012 the number of cars in the capital would exceed five million.

Beijing is notable not only for the number of vehicles on its road, but also the pace with which that amount is increasing, Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary for the China Passenger Car Association, points out. Of the 78.02 million vehicles in 31 cities nationwide, six percent are in Beijing alone. Meanwhile, the nationwide average number of vehicles per 1,000 people is 58.23 units, only a quarter of Beijing's level. The pace with which that amount increases is 75 percent faster than average in Beijing.

Another defining characteristic of Beijing is the ratio of privately owned automobiles. At the end of 2010, 4.81 million vehicles were on Beijing's roads, 3.74 million, or 77.85 percent, of which were privately owned. This is largely a sign of the relative affluence of the capital.