Cross-Province Registration?

Apologies if this question has been asked before or is one of those things that delve into quagmires of China complexities and legalities. But I'm genuinely curious about this issue, or if anyone has actually tried it.

The question is whether a bike can be purchased in one province and registered in another. For example, I recall here recently that a person bought a bike in Chongqing (where many of the best models can be found) and then transported it to Nanjing on the train. In this case, I would assume the bike ended up being registered in Nanjing since that's where the poster lived. But how did this actually work?

What I'm looking into is purchasing a new bike in Zhejiang with a fapiao of ownership, preferably a YVR-250 or a similar model, riding it across the provincial border into Shanghai, and then registering it using a suburban C plate where most of my riding would be done and my housing would be registered.

Zhejiang is another great province for bike purchasing, and the price goes down substantially if you buy a bike there, as opposed to within Shanghai province. But if it's not possible to do this, I'd end up paying more and just buying locally.

A rather complex question with many possible answers...TIC. What is a YVR-250?

I think the purchasing issue mostly relates to getting a receipt (fapiao). For instance, most factories cannot issue a retail receipt to a buyer for a motorcycle. They must sell the bike to a dealer first, then the dealer sells it to you. I have purchased Galaxy, Yingang, and QingQi motorcycles directly from the factories, but the actual sale and registration goes through my local dealer. They arrange for all the paperwork and I toss them a little "tip" each time they handle this for me.

Being that you're in Shanghai, I'm sure there's a way you can save a few bucks by avoiding the local dealers, but you will probably have to jump through some hoops and spend a lot of time getting everything done.

Cheers!
ChinaV

I've bought used, legal bikes in one province and moved the registration to another. That was a little tricky, but quite doable with local help (e.g., an agent) in each jurisdiction.

I'd guess a new bike would be easier since you don't have to deal with the original province's registration, but still probably not worth the effort in time/fees over buying from a SH dealer.

One thing to keep in mind when you are dealing with vehicle registrations is that the "logic" of the policies/rules/etc is based in the Chinese residential hukou system.

Ah yes, the hukou system. I knew it had something to do with that while attempting to purchase and register a bike in Zhejiang a couple years back, and I basically gave up. They required residency papers and my weeklong stay in a nice hotel with a police registration didn't really cut it with the requirements. They said something like needing to stay in the jurisdiction for 3 months.

If you have a working permit and residence Visa in one city, you can apply for a temporary residence in another and register a bike. Done it many times, as Dongguan does not allow motorcycles, so I need to file in another city when I buy my bikes.

Cheers!
ChinaV

It is with keen interest that I read this. Do you happen to know if there are there limits to how long you need to stay in City R (for registration) before you can register the bike, or limits from the time you register with the police in City H (your home) and before you register in City R?

For example, the police at the 'pai suo chu' in City R told me the following information:

-- I must register with the pai suo chu in City H first, then wait 3 days, then come back to this pai suo chu and register
-- I must have a registered address in City R for 3 months before I can register a bike or deal with drivers license matters

What's your experience with this?

Hi Steve,

I changed my registration to outside of 2nd the ring road as I registered my bike. Registration inside is not allowed in KMG.
There was no requierement how long I needed to live there. In fact I moved few days before the registration, and moved back to my real home few days after. The police of my real home even checked why I moved, my wife told them the motorcycle story, they smiled and left.
That was all within one town. Just different districts.