Guideline aims to refine social credit system

Authorities will beef up efforts to optimize the mechanism for deterring behavior that causes bad credit and to refine the national social credit system, according to a guideline issued by the General Office of the State Council on Dec 18.

The endeavor aims to promote the high-quality development of the system, support the reform of government functions and help create a market environment featuring fairness and good credit, it said.

According to the guideline, the scope and procedures of credit information will be formulated in a science-based way. The principles of legality and necessity should be followed when deciding whether, and to what extent, public credit information should be shared and disclosed.

Such decisions will be made clear when compiling the credit information catalog, it said.

To better regulate the list identifying individuals who have committed serious acts that have resulted in bad credit, the guideline required that the list will be limited to those that put public health and safety in grave jeopardy, seriously sabotage fair market competition or disrupt normal social order. The list will not be willfully expanded without authorization.

The guideline also stressed that punishment of bad-credit actions will be enforced in accordance with laws and regulations.

Disciplinary measures taken against entities that have demonstrated serious dishonest behavior, leading to a reduction of their rights or an increase in their duties, will be based on facts and on laws and regulations, it said, adding that punishments should be appropriate and not be added or increased at will.

According to the guideline, a credit repair mechanism, which is conducive to self-correction, should be established, and relevant departments will remove entities who meet credit repair eligibility from the list in a timely manner.

Railway development to be accelerated

China will accelerate the development of urban and suburban railways in major city clusters, according to a guideline published by the General Office of the State Council on Dec 17.

Such efforts will optimize the layout of urban function, facilitate the coordinated development of cities and towns and expand effective investment, it said.

According to the guideline, preferred areas for construction of the railways include the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the Yangtze River Delta and the middle reaches of the Yangtze, as well as other areas that have financial standing, passenger traffic and development needs. For newly built lines on intercity railways, the guideline required that one-way journeys should take no more than one hour, with operating speeds between 100 and 160 kilometers per hour.

The average distance between stations should be no less than 3 km, and the interval between two trains during morning and evening rush hours should not exceed 10 minutes, it added.

To provide better operation services, the guideline also stressed efforts to optimize procedures such as ticket purchasing with support from 5G networks, artificial intelligence and big data.