BEIJING -- China saw a total of 9.66 million newly registered motor vehicles in the first quarter of this year, a record high for the same period in any year, the Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.

This brought the total number of motor vehicles in China to 378 million by the end of March, including 287 million cars, according to data released by the ministry.

Of the newly registered motor vehicles, 7.5 million were cars, it said, adding that China saw the registration of 466,000 new-energy cars in Q1, accounting for over 6 percent of the total car registration and bringing the total number of new-energy cars to 5.51 million as of March.

Altogether 8.39 million people obtained their driver's licenses in Q1, up nearly 180 percent from the same period last year. The number of licensed motor-vehicle drivers reached 463 million, of which 425 million were car drivers.

Seventy-two Chinese cities had more than 1 million cars by the end of March, five more cities than the same period last year. Among the cities, Beijing has over 6 million cars and Shanghai has more than 4 million, said the ministry.

It added that under regular epidemic control measures, traffic management departments across the country have continued to handle business online, with over 21.8 million applications involving motor vehicles and driver's licenses handled online in Q1.