琼A 12345
琼 plates: Hainan, and what the letters mean
Facts checked
A plate beginning 琼 was registered in Hainan, a province. The character is Qióng, said roughly “chyoong”. 琼 means fine jade and is short for 琼州 Qióngzhōu, the island's prefecture name from the Tang dynasty on. Hainan means 'south of the sea'.
The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 琼A belongs to Haikou, and 6 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 | 琼 “chyoong” |
|---|---|
| Place | Hainan |
| Kind | province |
| Capital | Haikou |
| City letters | 7 |
| Why this character | 琼 means fine jade and is short for 琼州 Qióngzhōu, the island's prefecture name from the Tang dynasty on. Hainan means 'south of the sea'. |
The city letters
- 琼A Haikou
- 琼B Sanya
- 琼C Qionghai, Wenchang, Wanning, Ding'an, Tunchang, Chengmai and Lingao
- 琼D Wuzhishan, Dongfang, Lingshui, Baoting, Qiongzhong, Baisha, Changjiang and Ledong
- 琼E Yangpu Economic Development Zone
- 琼F Danzhou
- 琼O Hainan public security
| Prefix | Letter | City | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 琼A | A | Haikou | |
| 琼B | B | Sanya | |
| 琼C | C | Qionghai, Wenchang, Wanning, Ding'an, Tunchang, Chengmai and Lingao | A shared northern-Hainan series rather than a single city; 琼CXS is the block for Sansha. Until 1 December 2018 it was administered by a single northern vehicle office; since then each county and city runs its own. |
| 琼D | D | Wuzhishan, Dongfang, Lingshui, Baoting, Qiongzhong, Baisha, Changjiang and Ledong | The southern counterpart to 琼C, covering the districts of the former Hainan Li and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. |
| 琼E | E | Yangpu Economic Development Zone | Discontinued. |
| 琼F | F | Danzhou | |
| 琼O | O | Hainan public security | Police series. |
Hainan plates: questions people ask
- What does 琼 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
- 琼 (Qióng, "chyoong") is the abbreviation for Hainan. 琼 means fine jade and is short for 琼州 Qióngzhōu, the island's prefecture name from the Tang dynasty on. Hainan means 'south of the sea'.
- Which city is 琼A?
- Haikou. 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 Hainan use?
- 7 are recorded here, A to O. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.
Related
Sources for Hainan
- 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.