Panic driving rush to join license-plate lottery in capital

BEIJING - About 100,000 more residents entered the latest round of the capital city's vehicle-license lottery than had in February, even amid revelations that winners of previous lottery rounds had not taken advantage of the opportunities they had to buy cars.

A total of 397,543 qualified candidates took part in the city's third license-plate lottery, which was held this month, according to figures released by the Beijing municipal commission of transport on Friday. The participants will compete in a draw on Saturday for the right to obtain one of 17,600 license plates Beijing issues each month.

In February, 292,280 people had taken part in the lottery, giving each participant only a 6 percent chance of winning. The odds have narrowed even further in March - to a mere 4 percent.