XI'AN - Xi'an, a historical city in Shaanxi Province, will place traffic restrictions on the use of vehicle on weekdays.

The popular tourist city said the restriction would be imposed on weekdays from 7 am to 8 pm starting March 18. Vehicles are restricted in one out of five weekdays based upon the last numbers of their license plates in certain areas in the city, where the number of motor vehicles hit 3 million as of May 2018.

Three bureaux of municipal ecology and environment, public security and transport said in a circular that the move was taken to ease traffic congestion and reduce air pollution.

Mass transit buses, new energy vehicles, vehicles for people with disabilities, and vehicles for special purposes such as fire engines and ambulances, however, will be exempted from the restriction, according to the circular.

Other Chinese cities have introduced traffic restrictions to limit the number of cars in use on weekdays, including Beijing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Chengdu and Lanzhou.