Superstitious Chinese drivers bid a total of 559,000 yuan (US$72,036) for six "lucky" vehicle registration plate numbers in northeastern China's Jilin Province on Sunday.

The six plates sold in less than 40 minutes with the most expensive - BE9999 - attracting a winning bid of 219,000 yuan (US$28,222) in the auction run by the Jilin municipal government.

The other numbers were BE7777, BE8888, BA0777, BA0888 and BA0999.

Folklore expert Chen Qinjian said the Chinese word for nine, "jiu", can also mean "everlasting". Eight, read "ba" in Chinese, sounds like "Fa" which means to become rich while seven, "qi", sounds like the word for "up".

The plates are only valid for 15 years and can not be transferred to another car.

The income from the auction will be used for development of public transport services, said the local government.

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2007)