Others News
- Bidders snap up 2,000 taxi plates
Date: 31-Oct-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
TAXI license plates fetched 542,500 yuan (US$71,000) each at an auction yesterday in Shenzhen, following a decision by transport authorities to allow 2,000 extra red taxis on road this year.
The 2,000 plates will be evenly distributed among the final 20 bidders, who were required to buy 100 plates at a time. The bidders also won the right to operate for 12 years.
The conference room at the Wuzhou Guest House was packed with representatives of 51 taxi companies yesterday afternoon as Tian Tao, a registered auctioneer and member of China's auction industry association, started the auction.
The reserve price was set at 150,000 yuan for a plate, but the bidders' confidence in taxi profit margins pushed the price up to 500,000 yuan in 40 minutes of bidding.
Tian occasionally reminded bidders to be aware of the risks involved and had to take a break for 10 minutes to allow the bidders to cool their enthusiasm.
'This is one of the most intensive auctions I've experienced in my career as an auctioneer,'said Tian.
'The auction here is as hot as the weather of this booming city, which plans to benefit the public by putting more taxis on road,'said Tian, a professor at Qinghua University.
Following this auction, more taxi license plates will be issued through auctions over the next four years, according to the transport bureau. The number of taxis in Shenzhen will double to reach 20,000 by 2011.
The validity of the license plates will be reduced from 50 years to 12 years.
'Bidders should take into consideration all factors that might increase their operating costs and avoid pushing the price too high,'Tian said.
But his advice did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of bidders.
The price continued to rise in 500 yuan bids until it reached 542,000 yuan.
'I felt very excited after we won a bid,'Zhang Hongzhi, manager of Shenzhen Xilie Taxi Company, said. Before coming to the auction, the company had set a base limit of around 550,000 yuan for a plate.
'Although taxi companies no longer earn as much as they did before, they still expect high profit margins and a stable return,'Zhang said.
The city has not issued any license plates for red taxis since 1993. With the rapid growth in population, Shenzhen has experienced a shortage of taxis, compared with other major cities.
The number of taxis in Shenzhen is low compared to other parts of China. There are only 10,305 taxis for Shenzhen's 7.5 million permanent residents, or 13.74 taxis for every 10,000 residents, lower than many other big inland cities. The Ministry of Construction has recommended that cities should have 21 taxis for every 10,000 residents.
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