粤A 12345
粤 plates: Guangdong, and what the letters mean
Facts checked
A plate beginning 粤 was registered in Guangdong, a province. The character is Yuè, said roughly “yweh”. 粤 (also written 越) was the general Chinese name for the peoples of the far south; 两粤 once covered both Guangdong and Guangxi. Guangdong means 'the eastern expanse', from the Song circuit 广南东路.
The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 粤A belongs to Guangzhou, and 24 further letters are recorded below.
The colour of the plate is a separate fact from the characters: it says what kind of vehicle carries it, and the characters say nothing about it. The colour guide sets out what each of the 7 colours licenses.
Key facts
| Plate character | 粤 “yweh” |
|---|---|
| Place | Guangdong |
| Kind | province |
| Capital | Guangzhou |
| City letters | 25 |
| Why this character | 粤 (also written 越) was the general Chinese name for the peoples of the far south; 两粤 once covered both Guangdong and Guangxi. Guangdong means 'the eastern expanse', from the Song circuit 广南东路. |
The city letters
- 粤A Guangzhou
- 粤B Shenzhen
- 粤C Zhuhai
- 粤D Shantou
- 粤E Foshan
- 粤F Shaoguan
- 粤G Zhanjiang
- 粤H Zhaoqing
- 粤J Jiangmen
- 粤K Maoming
- 粤L Huizhou
- 粤M Meizhou
- 粤N Shanwei
- 粤O Guangdong provincial agencies
- 粤P Heyuan
- 粤Q Yangjiang
- 粤R Qingyuan
- 粤S Dongguan
- 粤T Zhongshan
- 粤U Chaozhou
- 粤V Jieyang
- 粤W Yunfu
- 粤X Shunde District, Foshan
- 粤Y Nanhai District, Foshan
- 粤Z Hong Kong and Macau cross-border vehicles
| Prefix | Letter | City | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 粤A | A | Guangzhou | Guangzhou's blocks are split by district: broadly, T–V and U–V blocks for Huadu, W–X for Zengcheng, Y–Z for Conghua, Q–S and B–D for Panyu, with the rest of the range for the central districts. Some blocks are sold by public auction. |
| 粤B | B | Shenzhen | Shenzhen took an early letter because it was one of the original special economic zones; the 1992 scheme put the SEZs at the front of the alphabet after the provincial capital. |
| 粤C | C | Zhuhai | Also a special economic zone, hence the early letter. |
| 粤D | D | Shantou | Also a special economic zone. |
| 粤E | E | Foshan | Foshan issued 粤E city-wide, then split off 粤X for Shunde and 粤Y for Nanhai; since 1 February 2018 the whole city is back on 粤E. |
| 粤F | F | Shaoguan | |
| 粤G | G | Zhanjiang | |
| 粤H | H | Zhaoqing | 粤HL is the Sihui block. |
| 粤J | J | Jiangmen | |
| 粤K | K | Maoming | |
| 粤L | L | Huizhou | |
| 粤M | M | Meizhou | |
| 粤N | N | Shanwei | |
| 粤O | O | Guangdong provincial agencies | Kept in use where most provinces dropped theirs. 粤O is administered under the police-plate rules — 粤OA0001, for instance, is the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau chief's car — and it is the reason O appears at all in a system that otherwise avoids the letter. |
| 粤P | P | Heyuan | |
| 粤Q | Q | Yangjiang | |
| 粤R | R | Qingyuan | |
| 粤S | S | Dongguan | Dongguan takes a letter of its own despite being one of the province's later prefecture-level cities; it is the second-highest-volume series in Guangdong after Guangzhou and Shenzhen. |
| 粤T | T | Zhongshan | |
| 粤U | U | Chaozhou | |
| 粤V | V | Jieyang | |
| 粤W | W | Yunfu | |
| 粤X | X | Shunde District, Foshan | Issued from 23 October 2000, when Shunde's vehicle office was upgraded; discontinued on 1 February 2018 when Foshan returned to a single 粤E series. |
| 粤Y | Y | Nanhai District, Foshan | Issued from 28 December 1998; discontinued on 1 February 2018. |
| 粤Z | Z | Hong Kong and Macau cross-border vehicles | Not a city. 粤Z is the mainland registration carried by Hong Kong- and Macau-registered vehicles permitted to drive into the mainland: a black plate with white characters, four alphanumerics, and 港 or 澳 as the final character. It is issued by the Guangdong provincial public security department, and the vehicle may normally travel only within Guangdong. Cars taking part in the Northbound Travel schemes for Hong Kong and Macau vehicles do not need a 粤Z plate. |
Guangdong plates: questions people ask
- What does 粤 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
- 粤 (Yuè, "yweh") is the abbreviation for Guangdong. 粤 (also written 越) was the general Chinese name for the peoples of the far south; 两粤 once covered both Guangdong and Guangxi. Guangdong means 'the eastern expanse', from the Song circuit 广南东路.
- Which city is 粤A?
- Guangzhou. The letter A goes to the seat of government in almost every province, and the remaining letters were assigned to the other issuing offices.
- How many plate letters does Guangdong use?
- 25 are recorded here, A to Z. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.
Related
Sources for Guangdong
- Wikipedia (Chinese), 中华人民共和国民用机动车号牌 (Civil motor-vehicle registration plates of the People's Republic of China). Read . Carries the complete province-by-province table of issuing-office letters, with the retired and renumbered series footnoted to Chinese news and public-security sources. Used as a finding aid; wording here is our own.
- Wikipedia, Vehicle registration plates of China. Read . English list of prefixes; the article flags its own list as incomplete, so it is used here to cross-check the Chinese table rather than as the primary record.