川A 12345

川 plates: Sichuan, and what the letters mean

Facts checked

A plate beginning 川 was registered in Sichuan, a province. The character is Chuān, said roughly “chwahn”. 川 means 'river' or 'plain'; 四川 Sìchuān is short for 川峡四路, the 'four circuits of Chuanxia' of the Song dynasty. The province's literary abbreviation is 蜀 Shǔ, from the ancient Shu state and the Three Kingdoms-era Shu Han.

The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 川A belongs to Chengdu, 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 川 Chuān “chwahn”
PlaceSichuan
Kindprovince
CapitalChengdu
City letters25
Why this character川 means 'river' or 'plain'; 四川 Sìchuān is short for 川峡四路, the 'four circuits of Chuanxia' of the Song dynasty. The province's literary abbreviation is 蜀 Shǔ, from the ancient Shu state and the Three Kingdoms-era Shu Han.

The city letters

Issuing offices in Sichuan.
Prefix Letter City Note
川A A Chengdu
川B B Mianyang Before 1997 川B was Chongqing's plate; it moved to Mianyang when Chongqing was separated from Sichuan as a municipality.
川C C Zigong
川D D Panzhihua
川E E Luzhou
川F F Deyang
川G G Chengdu Reissued letter: 川G was Mianyang's plate before 1997 and came back on 7 April 2022 as Chengdu's supplementary series.
川H H Guangyuan
川J J Suining
川K K Neijiang
川L L Leshan
川M M Ziyang Before 1997 the plate of Wanxian city, which went to Chongqing.
川N N Fuling Discontinued in 1997 when Fuling was transferred to Chongqing.
川O O Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department vehicle administration Retired. In police use, 川O followed by a district letter marked a police car, and 川O·9xxxx marked state-security vehicles.
川P P Qianjiang Prefecture Discontinued in 1997 when the prefecture was transferred to Chongqing.
川Q Q Yibin
川R R Nanchong
川S S Dazhou
川T T Ya'an
川U U Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture
川V V Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
川W W Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
川X X Guang'an
川Y Y Bazhong
川Z Z Meishan

Sichuan plates: questions people ask

What does 川 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
川 (Chuān, "chwahn") is the abbreviation for Sichuan. 川 means 'river' or 'plain'; 四川 Sìchuān is short for 川峡四路, the 'four circuits of Chuanxia' of the Song dynasty. The province's literary abbreviation is 蜀 Shǔ, from the ancient Shu state and the Three Kingdoms-era Shu Han.
Which city is 川A?
Chengdu. 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 Sichuan use?
25 are recorded here, A to Z. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.

Related

Sources for Sichuan

  1. 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.
  2. 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.