Prices of new license plates in Shanghai hit a record high in May as demand for private cars in the city has been growing despite local government controls on vehicle registration.

In the monthly auction ending at noon on Saturday, the average bid for a plate was 64,367 yuan ($10,000), about 2,700 yuan higher than the April average, according to official data.

The lowest individual bid was 64,000 yuan, 3,000 yuan higher than last month's equivalent.

Auction records had been broken more than 10 times since the beginning of 2011. The average plate price has increased by more than 2,000 yuan every month since the beginning of this year.

In an effort to curb the rising prices, the government released 9,300 new license plates in May, also a record high and 800 more than in April.

However, the increase in the number of plates released has not matched rising demand for cars.

A total of 24,230 individuals registered in the auction this month, and only 38.3 percent got a license plate.

China is now the world's largest auto market and many of its big cities are struggling with recurring gridlock and other traffic-related problems.

Shanghai is the only Chinese city to use an auction to control plate supply. Beijing has imposed a cap on the number of plates issued each month and introduced a lottery system to distribute them among aspirant buyers.

沪江英语快讯：2012年5月上海私车额度拍卖结果已出炉，最低成交价依然持续上涨，最终以64000元的价格收尾，较4月上涨了3000元；平均成交价64367元，比上月上涨2741元。至此，5月份的成交价再次创下上海自2000年举行私车牌照无底价拍卖以来的最高纪录。有网友开玩笑说：按前后两块车牌总重200克计算，上海车牌折合322元/克。近期黄金价格约为320元/克，上海车牌已经略贵于黄金。为了解决车牌贵的问题，建议有关部门将车牌重量增加一倍。这样，车牌每克均价将下降50%，让利于民。