In Hong Kong, vehicle registration marks are managed by the Transport Department. The number plates are not provided by the government, but are made by garages to the order of the car owner.
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Each vehicle must display 2 number plates, one in the front and one at the rear of the vehicle. The front plate has black characters on a white background, and the rear plate has black characters on a yellow background. The height of the letters and numerals are not less than 8 cm (3.1 in) and not more than 11 cm (4.3 in). The plates should comply with British Standard B.S. 145a and have permanently marked on the plate the specification number "B.S. AU 145a".
Most car numbers consist of a 2-letter prefix followed by a number between 1 and 9999 without leading zeroes. Some car numbers do not have a letter prefix. The letters "I", "O" and "Q" are not used to avoid ambiguity. Examples are 9999, CP1, FP507, and LW2468.
The very first numbers ever allocated (1-9999) have no prefixes. First "HK" and then "XX" were the first 2 prefixes allocated. Then the sequence went as follows: "AA", "AB", "AC", ... "AZ", "BB", "BC"... "BZ", "CA", "CB", "CC", ... . It is worth noting that there was no "BA" prefix allocated at that time because the government thought that it would get mixed up with "AB" and so did not allocate the "BA" prefix. Another speculation is that "BA" would stand for British Army, thus this prefix was skipped. For a similar reason, "BF" (which could stand for British Forces) was also skipped. But they changed their minds to allocate "CA" prefix after "BZ", and in 2003, "BA" and "BF" prefixes were available for auction.
The prefixes "FU" and "FV" were also issued out of turn. These are typically issued to vehicles with primary registration in Mainland China and are used as their "cross-border" plates while in Hong Kong. Some "DW" and "EW" registration marks are also used for this purpose.
Shortly prior to the handover of Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, the Advanced Detachment of the People's Liberation Army moved into Hong Kong. The vehicles of the Advanced Detachment were assigned a series of "AD" registrations for their Hong Kong registrations. These vehicles also displayed their Mainland Chinese registrations whilst in Hong Kong.
Some prefixes are reserved and have special meanings.
As of December 2011, the current allocated prefix is "RD".
Formerly, motorcycles used another set of registration marks. Like the marks for cars, the very first numbers had no prefixes. Later, marks with one letter prefix were issued. For example, "A281", "B367".
Currently, the special issuance system of registration marks for motorcycles was cancelled and merged with cars. As of today, some motorcycles are still using the early marks. Hence, a unique registration mark without letter prefix could be found in 2 different types of vehicles.
These are specific car numbers with no numbers, simply letters only
Motor Dealers or Traders use red on white numberplates for driving on demonstrations or for moving unlicenced vehicles between the docks and garages etc. These use the letter 'T' (Trade) with up to five preceding numerals. In 2007 this series had reached the 11-thousands.
A car number is a special registration mark if
Although unlisted above, some traditional lucky numbers may be reserved, especially numbers contains with 3 and 8, which pronounces similar as a meaning of "longlive" and "prosperity" in Cantonese respectively. For example, 168 is always a reserved number since it pronounces in Cantonese meaning of "Rich all-time".
'Lucky numbers' are allocated only after sale by public auction which takes place from time to time. The proceeds of the auction goes to the Government Lotteries Fund to be used for charitable purposes.
From 1973, the Transport Department of the Hong Kong government conducts auctions to sell numbers. Currently, auctions are usually on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays, and there are about 2 auctions per month. Numbers sold must be assigned to a car registered in the name of the buyer of the number within 12 months from the date of auction. The car can be an existing car of the buyer, or a car purchased from someone else after the auction, or a brand new car to be purchased after the auction. You may check with the Transport Department whether a number is allocated or not.
A special registration mark obtained in an auction is not transferable to anybody, that is to say, the number can be used only on vehicles registered under the name of the buyer. Transferring a special registration mark from one vehicle to another is permitted provided that their owners are the same person. Sale or transfer of vehicles bearing a special registration mark to someone else would lose that special registration mark. If the buyer was assigned the special registration mark to a vehicle, and died later, the special registration mark cannot be transferred together with the vehicle to its successors. Therefore, it is very important to consider in whose name one should buy a special registration mark in an auction. The use of a limited liability company as the buyer would be a get around of the non-transferrable restriction because of its perpetual succession and the ability to transfer the company shares.
Except with "AM" or "LC" prefixes, any unallocated usual numbers may be reserved for auction, provided it has an earlier prefix in the sequence, or the current prefix, or the next immediate prefix. For example, if the current prefix is "LX", then a number with a prefix "AA", "AB", ..."AZ", "BA", ... "LX", or "LY" may be reserved for auction. Numbers having no prefix or a "XX" prefix may also be reserved for auction. It is doubtful whether numbers with the "ZG" prefix may be reserved for auction after the prefix runs to "ZF". To reserve a non-special registration mark for auction, one needs to pay a deposit of HK$1000. The minimum price for the number will also be HK$1000. If the number is successfully bidden by a person other than the person who reserved the number, the deposit will be refund. If there is no one bidding at the auction, the number will be sold to the person who reserved the number at HK$1000. If it is a special registration mark, there is no deposit to pay, and the minimum price will be set by the Transport Department but will be higher than HK$1000.
The Personalised Vehicle Registration Marks Scheme was adopted since 2006 to allow creation of numbers with up to 8 characters (including letters and/or numbers). The letters "I", "O" and "Q" are banned from use in the new scheme, with the former 2 letters officially recognised as numbers "1" and "0" respectively. Since "I" and "O" look identical to "1" and "0" under the standard font type used on Hong Kong license plates, phrases like "SIU SIU" and "I LOVE U" can be printed on the plates, although they are officially recognised as "S1U S1U" and "1 L0VE U".
The numbers under this scheme are auctioned with a minimum price of HK$5000, with the first auction held on September 16, 2006. Although drivers are usually granted their choice of plate, obtaining a unique or easily-recognized plate can be very competitive. For example, the license place I LOVE U was sold at a charity auction for $1.4 million.[1]
The license plate "1" is reserved for the Commissioner of Police, while plate numbers '2' to '10' were all sold by auctions. Some of the owners are celebrities of Hong Kong. The current owner of number plates 1 to 10 are:
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