The State Council General Office issued a guideline on March 25 to promote a more convenient trading of second-hand vehicles.

Currently China has more than 170 million cars, which means there is great potential in the second-hand car market. Yet problems such as inconvenience in trading and lack of information restricted the transactions. The guideline is aimed at promoting a prosperous second-hand car market and also the development of related service industries.

According to the guideline, local governments should not restrict the inflow of second-hand vehicles. Areas that have restrictive policies should remove them before the end of May 2016.

The whole process of trading, taxation, insurance and registration will be integrated to develop one-stop services. Trading registration will be simplified and no restrictive requirements can be added illegally.

The guideline also seeks to establish a mechanism for circulating information to strengthen communication and information sharing. Information systems covering the whole life cycle of vehicles will be set up.

The guideline called for stronger support for second-hand vehicle trading credit, loosening the requirement for credit and simplifying related procedures. Enterprises in the field will be instructed to develop OTO (online-to-offline or offline-to-online) mode. Other trading patterns such as e-commerce and auctions are encouraged.