Wang Haiping, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, told a press conference the move would be irresponsible in the current financial climate, according to the Xinhua news agency.

"It's inappropriate to restrict car purchases or licence plate issuing to control the total number of vehicles," he was quoted as saying.

"We need to take into account the overall situation of boosting domestic demand and maintaining steady, rapid economic growth.

"We need to maintain long-term development of the country's auto industry and citizens' expectations to improve their livelihoods after becoming more wealthy."

City authorities will instead spend 90 billion yuan (13.2 billion dollars) adding more subway lines over the next two years, increasing the network's length from 200 to 300 kilometres (125 to 190 miles) by 2010, Wang said.

Beijing, a city of 16 million residents, has about 3.5 million vehicles and some 1,200 new vehicles take to the roads each day, according to government statistics.

During the Olympics the city operated a pollution-busting restriction which only allowed cars to use the roads every other day, taking nearly two million vehicles off the roads for two months.

It helped eliminate about 63 percent of total vehicular pollutant emissions before the ban.

Wang said a new traffic restriction, which came into effect in the Chinese capital on October 11, should satisfy residents' concerns.

Under the new ban, 70 percent of government vehicles, as well as all corporate and private cars, take turns staying off the roads one day during the five day working week.

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