A main road is crammed with cars in Beijing, capital of China, on Sept. 22, 2014, the World Car Free Day. [Photo: Xinhua]

Beijing's transport authority on Tuesday said that the city will limit the number of cars on road to 6.3 million in 2020, as part of efforts to reduce traffic congestion.

According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, the number of new license plates available to registered drivers, currently handled through a monthly lottery, will be reduced from the current 150,000 a year to 100,000 in 2018.

The total number of cars on road in Beijing was 5.62 million by the end of 2015.

The city has seen car numbers grow by 303 percent from 1998 to 2013, with many major roads plagued by severe congestion.

Since 2004, the city has adopted a set of measures to solve the problem, such as introducing a plate lottery, encouraging the use of public transport, and using traffic control based on license plate numbers.