The Chinese love affair with car ownership continues unabated, with Beijing registering 22,079 new motor vehicle owners in the first 18 days of the year, a record high.

The number of motor vehicles in the city will exceed three million by May this year, according to an estimate by the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau.

Owning a car is a status symbol for Chinese people, and air pollution a major problem in most Chinese cities.

"We granted more than 2,400 new driving licenses in a single day," said a spokesman for the bureau.

There are now 2.88 million motor vehicles in Beijing, including 2.06 million private vehicles. The number of people with driving licenses now exceeds 4.24 million.

It is estimated the number of motor vehicles will top 3.3 million by the time the Olympic Games are held in Beijing in summer 2008.