China has 440m drivers as of June: ministry

China now has 440 million licensed motor-vehicle drivers, with 7.28 million people obtaining their licenses in the first half of the year, the Ministry of Public Security said Tuesday.

Most of the drivers are aged between 26 and 50, of which 150 million are between 26 and 35 years old and 170 million are from 36 to 50 years old, according to data released by the ministry's traffic-management bureau.

There are 14.24 million drivers over 60 years old, accounting for 3.2 percent of the total number, the data shows.

In the first half of 2020, to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic and reduce the risk of virus transmission, many traffic-related services have been handled online, said the bureau.

The traffic-management authorities across China handled 23.03 million service requests, such as issuing temporary license plates and renewing driving licenses, via the internet in the past six months, said the bureau.