According to the outline, the implementation of a national social credit system will consist of three phases.

By the end of June, construction of a uniform platform for sharing social credit information was launched, and plans for creating credibility systems in governments, individuals and organizations were submitted. In 2015, the plans will be introduced and implemented, and by the end of 2017, the platform sharing citizens' information, including records for business registration, tax payments, social security payments and traffic violations, will be completed.

Wang Lei, Vice Secretary General of the China Society of Administration for Industry and Commerce, said that every citizen, legal entity and social organization will have an exclusive social credit code when the first phase of the outline is accomplished.

By that time, credit references, disclosures, as well as any punishment and reward systems will be linked, which will in turn speed up the completion of the system, Wang added.

Meanwhile, authorities also pledged to establish a set of laws and regulations for the social credit system and a related reward and punishment mechanism by 2020.

"The mechanism will help improve people's sense of integrity," said Zhou with the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences. "Through it, we will be able to award honest people and punish the dishonest."

Zhang said that consensus has been reached on key points for the social credit system, but challenges remain in several areas, such as collecting, safeguarding and supervising the information.

His opinions were echoed by Tian Yun, an economist with the NDRC's China Society of Macroeconomics.

Tian doubted whether all government departments could cooperate efficiently during the implementation, as the policy is expected to involve a large number of departments.

If executed poorly, the policy could potentially give rise to corruption as officials take advantage of sensitive information for their own interest, Tian warned. He said that the government should prevent abuse of power and guarantee the confidentiality of information submitted by individuals and corporations.

Another challenge Zhou mentioned was the supervision of institutions that will manage credit records, such as banks as well as transportation and social security departments. In his opinion, they must also be included in the social credit system and kept subject to public oversight.

Zhang suggested establishing a regulatory body to oversee the credit system building and map out detailed rules and regulations to prevent abuse.

"The public should be involved in the process of making rules," Zhou said. "It is easy to build a social credit system, but it takes more time to restore ethical behavior, improve the market economy system and promote equality."

Credit codes

"The establishment of the social credit code system is the foundation for completing the tasks listed in the outline," said Tian Jinchen, Director of the NDRC's Fiscal and Financial Department.

At present, the identity card system for individuals has laid a good foundation for setting up a unified social credit code system for natural persons, but a different approach is required to do the same for legal entities and social organizations.

"Legal entities and social organizations could have separate codes at taxation and commerce and industry departments. This may lead to inefficiency and create difficulty in linking different credit information databases," Tian Jinchen said. He revealed that the NDRC is researching possible solutions to integrate the credit information for legal entities and social organizations, and an initial plan is being drafted.

"The unified social credit code will help link separate credit databases and form an integrated social credit system for all bodies, including individuals and government agencies," said Wang Yukai, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance in Beijing.

Vice Premier Ma Kai said in March that the credit code system will "institutionally strengthen and innovate social management and solidify the foundation for preventing and punishing corruption."

In order to guarantee the fluent implementation of the outline, a cross-departmental meeting mechanism has been established between different government agencies, led by the NDRC and the PBC, according to Tian. Currently, 25 departments have confirmed to participate in the mechanism.

"Meanwhile, the NDRC is preparing a dedicated website for promoting the establishment of a unified credit information platform," he announced at a press conference on July 9.

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