The government has set up new short-term vehicle restrictions effective through Sept. 20, in which vehicles will only be allowed on the city's streets on alternate days, depending on whether they have even or off license plate numbers, the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.

The undertaking is huge because Beijing has 3.29 million vehicles. City officials said the restrictions, coupled with an earlier ban on the use of vehicles deemed to emit too many pollutants, would eliminate 2 million cars from the city's streets, the news agency said.