A total of 397,543 qualified candidates took part in Beijing's third license-plate lottery, which was held this month, according to figures released by the Beijing municipal commission of transport on Friday. The participants will compete in a draw on Saturday for the right to obtain one of 17,600 license plates Beijing issues each month.

In February, 292,280 people had taken part in the lottery, giving each participant only a 6 percent chance of winning. The odds have narrowed even further in March -- to a mere 4 percent.

According to the lottery's rules, applicants who have failed to win in the past two months will be automatically entered in the latest drawing, a policy that has greatly added to the total number of participants.

Traffic-clogged Beijing began using the lottery on Jan 1 in an attempt at controlling the number of vehicles on the streets and easing gridlock. Although 35,200 people won the right to buy a car in the first two drawings, only a small number of them have actually made good on it.

Earlier reports said about 3,400 winners -- fewer than 20 percent of the total -- bought new cars in the ten days following the first drawing.

Luo Ting, a 28-year-old Beijing resident, said her good luck in the first plate lottery in January brought unexpected troubles.

Although not in urgent need of a car, Luo decided to apply for a license plate out of a fear that obtaining one would become even more difficult in the future.

"I didn't expect I would be among the first batch of winners," she said, adding that she has to buy a car as soon as possible because the right to obtain a license plate expires within six months.