A record number of bidders Saturday sent the mean price for a car-license plate in Shanghai to rebound past 30,000 yuan (US$4,277) amid the municipal government's all-out effort to streamline the auction process.

The average successful bid was 32,169 yuan, while the lowest winning price climbed to 31,300 yuan, the organizer, Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co, said on its Website.

This compared to the January result -- when the average price unexpectedly plunged to a six-year low of 23,370 yuan and lowest to 8,100 yuan -- after the city government changed the rules and there were widespread problems in electronic bidding.

Analysts said this month's auction suggested that market demand for car plates from both individuals and private companies remained strong.

The Shanghai government put 9,300 car plates up for sale yesterday, the highest number since the monthly system started in 2000, as the auction was delayed for nearly a month due to the February spring-holiday break.

A total of 63,534 would-be plate owners, six times more than the average, joined the bidding yesterday, including many expecting prices to mirror January's lows. "I planned to bid 20,000 yuan based on the results from last time," said a 27-year-old marketing employee, surnamed Zhou. "I finally dropped my bid as prices soared."

Prices rocketed from 100 yuan to more than 18,000 yuan only two minutes after the auction started at 10am by which time about 20,000 people had offered bids. Ten minutes later, the lowest price broke the 23,000-yuan barrier.

It is estimated that about 12,000 bidders dropped out.

"The prices for this month reflected the real market expectations and could set the tone for the whole year," said Zhu Junyi, director of an auto research department under the Shanghai Economic Committee's Information Center.

"But the price for future months could also be influenced by other factors, including the quota."