The Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

requires its residents to register their motor vehicle

Motor vehicle

A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...

s and display vehicle registration plate

Vehicle registration plate

A vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...

s.

Until January 1, 2007, plates were identified as having been issued under the jurisdiction of either Taiwan Province

Taiwan Province

Taiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...

, Taipei City

Taipei

Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

, Kaohsiung City

Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...

, Kinmen County or Lienchiang County. Since that time, the legends identifying the place of issuance have been removed—plates display only registration numbers—but the plates are still issued separately by each jurisdiction.

Types of Number Plate

Taiwan's current number plate system uses Latin letters with Arabic numerals. There are many types of number plate used in Taiwan, they are:

• Large Cars
• Small Cars
• Heavy Motorbikes
• Light Motorbikes
• Recovery Vehicles
• Temporary Car plates
• Temporary Motorbike plates
• Temporary Recovery Vehicle plates
• Test plates
• Learner Motorbike plates
• 使-character (Diplomatic) plates
• 領-character (Consular) plates (currently not used)
• 外-character (Foreigner) plates
• Disabled plates

2+3 Plates

Example	Class	Explanation
AA-001 AA-001 001-AA	Large Commercial Coach	Seating more than 10 people or weighing more than 3500 kg
AA-001 AA-001	Large Private Coach	Seating more than 10 people or weighing more than 3500 kg
AA-001 001-AA	Small Commercial Coach	Seating fewer than 10 people, lighter than 3500 kg.
AA-001	Commercial Lorry
AA-001	Special Vehicle	A vehicle which does not fall into another category, such as police cruisers, ambulances, fire engines, dust trucks, heavy building machinery and cable cars.

2+4 Plates

Example	Class	Explanation
AA-0001 0001-AA	Small Private Coach	Seating fewer than 10 people, lighter than 3500 kg.
	Small Private Lorry	Lighter than 3500 kg.
	Hire Car	Hire cars always have two identicle letters, e.g. AA、BB、CC

3+3 Plates

Example	Class	Explanation
AAA-001 001-AAA	Heavy Motorbike	50-250cc
001-AAA	Large Heavy Motorbike	250-550cc
AAA-001	Electric Motorbike	Greater than 40 hp
AAA-001 001-AAA	Light Motorcycle	Less than 50cc

2+2 Plates

Example	Class	Explanation
AA-01	Super Heavy Motorbike	Greater than 550cc
AA-01	Recovery Vehicle

Special Use Plates

Example	Class	Explanation
使-001 外-001	Diplomatic Vehicle	Use by diplomatic staff working from foreign embassies
軍A-00001	Military Vehicle
臨-00001	Temporary plate	Sometimes printed on paper
試-0001	Testing	For testing recently manufactured or imported vehicles

External links

• License plate rules of the issuing office in Taipei City