Beijing officials attend a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2010. The Beijing municipal government announced a traffic control package plan here Thursday in a bid to smooth the traffic on the city's choking arteries.[Xinhua]

The Beijing municipal government says it will limit issuance of new car plates to 240,000 annually in an effort to ease the capital city's traffic jams.

Car buyers will have to obtain car plates by drawing lots before they drive their cars on road, said the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (BMCT) at a press briefing Thursday.

The new policy will take effect on Jan. 1, 2011, BMCT said.

In 2010, more than 700,000 news cars were sold in Beijing, bringing the capital city's total number of automobiles to more than 4.7 million, statistics from the BMCT showed.