CHINA: Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014-2020)

A social credit system is an important component part of the Socialist market economy
system and the social governance system. It is founded on laws, regulations, standards, and
charters, and is based on a complete network covering the credit records of members of
society and credit infrastructure. It is supported by the lawful application of credit information
and a credit services system. Its inherent requirements are establishing the idea of a
sincerity culture, which means carrying forward sincerity and traditional virtues. To do so, it
uses encouragement to keep trust and constraints against breaking trust as incentive
mechanisms. Its objective is raising the honest mentality and credit levels of the entire
society.

(1) Context of development of the Social Credit System: The Party Centre and the State
Council pay high regard to the construction of a social credit system.
Although certain headway has been made in the construction of our country’s social
credit system, certain contradictions remain prominent. It is not matched, not coordinated
and not adapted to economic development levels and the social development stage. The
main problems that exist include: a credit investigation system that covers all of society has
not yet been formed, credit records of the members of society are gravely flawed, incentive
mechanisms to encourage keeping trust and punishments for breaking trust are incomplete,
trust-keeping is insufficiently rewarded, the costs of breaking trust tend to be low, credit
services markets are not developed, service systems are immature, there are no norms for
service activities, the credibility of service bodies is insufficient, and the mechanisms to
protect the rights and interests of credit information subjects are flawed. Furthermore, the
social consciousness of sincerity and credit levels tend to be low, and a social atmosphere in
which agreements are honoured and trust is honestly kept has not yet been shaped. This is
evident through the serious production safety accidents, food and drug security incidents,
commercial swindles, production and sales of counterfeit products, tax evasion, fraudulent
financial claims, academic impropriety and other such phenomena that take place frequently
and cannot be stopped in spite of repeated bans. There is also a continuing difference
between the extent of sincerity in government affairs and judicial credibility, and the
expectations of the popular masses.

(2) Circumstances and Requirements for the Social Credit System:

Our country is in a period of strategic opportunity to accelerate the transformation of
its development method and realize scientific development. Accelerating the promotion of
social credit system construction is an important precondition for stimulating optimized
resource allocation, broadening internal demand and stimulating the structural optimization
and improvement of industrial structures, and is an urgent requirement to perfect scientific
development mechanisms.
 Our country is in a crucial period of economic and social transformation. Interest
subjects are becoming more pluralized, various social contradictions are prominent, and
social organizations and management methods are seeing a profound change. The
construction of a social credit system is an effective method to strengthen social sincerity,
stimulate mutual trust in society, and reduce social contradictions; it is also an urgent
requirement for strengthening and innovating social governance, thereby building a Socialist
harmonious society.

(3) Guiding Ideology and Target Principles of the Social Credit System:
To comprehensively move the construction of a social credit system forward, we must
persist in completing credit laws, regulations and standard systems. We also need to shape
a credit investigation system covering all of society. This includes construction of sincerity in
government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and judicial credibility to to foster an
overall sincerity culture by establishing mechanisms to encourage sincerity and punish
insincerity as the focal points. Building such a credit investigation system also involves
creating a support structure through the construction of sectoral credit, local credit and the
development of credit services markets. The goal of all such measures will be to raise the
entire society’s sense of sincerity and credit levels and improving the economic and social
operating environment. This will be done by putting people first and shaping a strong culture
in the entire society wherein keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful, which
will ensure that sincerity and trustworthiness become conscious norms of action among all
the people.

The main objectives of the construction of a social credit system by 2020 are: establishing
fundamental laws, regulations and standard systems for social credit, putting in place a
credit investigation system covering the entire society with credit information and resource
sharing as its basis, creating credit supervision and management systems, having a
relatively perfect credit service market system, and giving complete control to mechanisms
that encourage keeping trust and punishing the breaking of trust. This will ensure a clear
headway in the construction of sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social
sincerity and judicial credibility, and a substantial rise in the market and social satisfaction
levels. The goal is to ensure a strengthened sense of sincerity in the entire society, the
achievement of a clear improvement in the credit environment for economic and social
development, and a marked improvement of the economic and social order.

The main principles for social credit system construction are:

Government promotion and joint construction with society: Government will have the main
role in the organization, guidance, promotion and demonstration of this system. The
government will be responsible for formulating and implementing development plans,
completing regulations and standards, as well as fostering and supervising credit service
markets. There will also be a focus on the role of market mechanisms, coordination and
optimization of resource allocation, encouragement and mustering of social forces to
broaden participation and move forward together for the construction of the social credit
system.

Completion of the legal system for standardizing development: Progressively establish and
complete credit law and regulation systems and credit standards systems, strengthen credit
information management, standardize the development of credit service structures,
safeguard the security of credit information, and the rights and interests of information
subjects.

Comprehensive planning for graduated implementation: In view of the long-term systemic

nature and complexity of this plan to construct a social credit system, it is important to
strengthen top-level design, standing in the present moment while gazing toward the future,
planning the overall picture comprehensively and systematically, while organizing
implementation in a planned and graduated manner.

Breakthroughs in focus points and strengthening the application: Choose focus areas and
model regions to launch credit construction demonstrations. Vigorously spread the socialized
application of credit products, stimulate the interaction, exchange, coordination and sharing
of credit information, complete combined social credit reward and punishment mechanisms,
construct a social credit environment of sincerity, self-discipline, trust-keeping and mutual
trust.