China to set personal credit records for 14 occupational groups
By sophia on 2017-01-20

The establishment of personal credit records will boom in China in 2017, with people from 14 kinds of important occupations being targeted as the new records system is established, said Lian Weiliang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The fourteen occupations include civil servants, lawyers, teachers, and doctors.

Lian said a nationwide credit blacklist and whitelist will be set and improved over the course of the year, and focusing on 14 specific occupations will aid this process.

In 2014, a memorandum was signed by the Supreme People's Court and six central government departments, as well as China Railway Corporation, in a move to ban debt defaulters from enjoying upper-class sleeper train compartments, or taking higher positions in a company.

"For now, a tendency of encouraging those with good credit records and punishing the opposites is coming into being. In 2017, such tendency will extend to all fields," said Lian.

So far, over six million people on the credit blacklist have been punished and their names have been made public by courts across China. More than five million attempts to buy flight tickets have been restricted by the civil aviation authority, and 70 thousand people on the credit blacklist have been banned from taking higher positions in a company.

"To promote the personal credit system, we must pay high attention to real-name registration, information security, credit repair services, and information services, which all aim to protect individual rights and interests," said Lian.

As an important part of building the credit system, a general plan on further improving real-name registration requirements will soon be released, reported Chinanews.com.