East China’s Jiangsu province released on Saturday the notice on the launch of a personal social credit code system. According to the notice, every adult in the province will be assigned a credit code in addition to a government-issued identity card by 2018
How good a citizen are you? China hopes to answer that question for every one of its citizens with a numerical rating system based on their financial standing, criminal record and social media behavior. A new translation of the government’s plans for a so-called social credit system sheds light on how China aims to utilize "Big Data" to hold all citizens accountable for financial decisions as well as moral choices.
China’s plans to roll out a citizen rating system has been in the works for years. Rogier Creemers, a China expert at Oxford University, recently published a translation of a document circulated through various levels of government detailing the six-year rollout of the program. According to a State Council notice, the central government hopes to have every adult in China assigned a credit code in addition to a government-issued identity card by 2020.
The first demonstration zone of social credit system in China, aimed to promote benefits of good credit, is planned for the Yangtze River Delta region, encompassing Shanghai Municipality, Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.
The national pilot plan approved by the National Development and Reform Commission is expected to help nurture a sound business and social environment in the region and regulate individual behavior based on credit records.
Real-name registration will be promoted in the fields of the internet, postal services, telecommunication and financial accounts to expedite the formation of personal credit records.
Individuals will first form track records in areas including traffic safety and paying of taxes, while civil servants and doctors are among the first group of professionals to register their credit profile.
The credit-worthy will be granted conveniences in education, employment and opening start-ups, while severe wrongdoing will be made public.
Meanwhile, China will offer better protection of personal information and privacy, and introduce a mechanism to restore mistaken and damaged credit records.
For government agencies, acts associated with government procurement, public-private partnership, local government debt are among key areas for improving creditworthiness.
Third-party institutions will participate in credit-rating for government agencies. Dishonesties will be recorded, collected by a national website and made public.
Under the system, trustworthy entrepreneurs and individuals will be rewarded, while infringers will be discredited.
The Yangtze River Delta region has benefitted from growth in enterprise credit and intellectual property rights or IPR protection.
