Beijing is to reduce the number of vehicle license plates it issues each year through a lottery system in the hope of reducing air pollution.

Starting in 2014, the number of plates issued each year will be reduced from 240,000 to 150,000, with the hope of cutting vehicle exhaust, which contributes to the city's ongoing air pollution problem.

However, city residents have complained that the new measure will make it more difficult to buy a car, and said the city should come up with a more efficient method of distribution instead.