China boasts 163 mln motor vehicles

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China had 163 million motor vehicles by the end of March, up 1.85 percent from the end of 2007,according to the Ministry of Public Security on Monday.

Automobiles and motorcycles accounted for 90.60 percent of the total, with tractors, trailers and other motor vehicles accounting for the rest, statistics from the traffic administration bureau of the ministry showed.

Of the total motor vehicles, 123 million are privately-owned, up 5.08 percent from the end of 2007, the bureau said.

Meanwhile, the number of drivers was also on the rise, reaching167 million by the end of March, up 2 percent from the end of 2007. Of the total, 66.03 percent were automobile drivers, the bureau said.