Shanghai is expected to adopt a new car-plate action system early next year, a city spokesman has said, according to Eastday.com Thursday.

The municipal government is now working on the new monthly auction system, Chen Qiwei, the municipal spokesman, said at a news conference on Wednesday, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Chen said Shanghai will "strictly control" the number of new cars for government officials at all levels next year in an attempt to leave more plates for private cars.

In previous reports, the vehicle administration bureau denied the move was intended to curb surging prices for license plates.

The average winning bid for a private plate increased 3,317 yuan (US$450) from October to 54,317 yuan in November, a record high since the city introduced the auction system in 2000.

The record price was due to surging demand and speculation that plates would be more expensive in the future, according to previous reports.

Shanghai is the only city on the Chinese mainland to issue plates by auction and the average price has increased fivefold over the past seven years.

Chen also added that the government has noticed that some car sellers have deliberately put up higher offers for car plates to ensure they can sell cars to buyers, an act that may disturb the market. The authority said it will not tolerate such actions.

Shanghai will hold this month's car plate auction on December 22 while the February plate quota will be advanced to January's auction due to the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 7, the report said.