A Study On The Personal Credit Reporting System In China

Credit relation is the most fundamental relation in the modern market economy, and the smooth running of all mature systems of market economy are based on a sound social credit system. As the point of departure of all the other kinds of credit, personal credit is at the core of the social credit system. A sound personal credit reporting system is therefore an essential criterion of the maturity of a country's social credit system, and plays a fundamental role in the smooth running of the market economy.Personal credit reporting in China, however, is in a relatively stagnant situation and a stable and clear system has not yet been founded, which is severely affecting the healthy development of the country's socialist market economy. Therefore, to settle on a personal credit reporting system which suits the actual conditions of the country and to promote the construction of social credit has become a necessary prerequisite of the development of the socialist market economy in China.Due to the gaps in the political system, the economic foundation, and the cultural tradition, the management of the personal credit reporting system varies considerably in different countries, which leads to the birth of three completely different kinds of personal credit management models, namely, the market-oriented credit reporting model, the public credit reporting model, and the industrial credit reporting model. Departing from the basic concepts of the construction of credit and the personal credit reporting system, the present thesis aims to put forward comprehensive suggestions and solutions concerning the betterment of China's personal credit reporting system by comparing and exploring the four major aspects of which both in China and abroad, namely, the pattern of organization, the legal construction, the supervision mechanism, and privacy protection. By doing so, it asserts to provide some suggestions for the construction and future development of the country's personal credit reporting system.I. Based on existing studies, the thesis defines in detail concepts including credit, personal credit, credit reporting, and personal credit reporting. It also explains the relationship between personal credit information and personal credit reporting. By clarifying the basic concept of personal credit both generally and specifically, the thesis tries to limit its discussion on the public policies and systems implemented by the government. With this as a point of departure, the thesis comments on the significance and necessity of the construction and perfection of the personal credit reporting system in our country from various aspects, such as overcoming the credit crises emerging in the development of the market economy, reducing the trading cost, improving the economic efficiency, developing the consumer credit system, stimulating the domestic demand, and enhancing the international economic and social competitive capacity of China.II. Starting with a survey on the historical development and status quo of China's personal credit system, the thesis summarizes and analyzes the major problems concerning the pattern of organization, the legal construction, the supervision, and the protection of privacy that emerge in the specific historical, economic, and cultural background of the country. Cases from Zhejiang Province, which was among the first to experiment on the personal credit reporting system, will be used to back up the arguments.III. Through studies on some typical cases in France, USA, and Japan, the thesis asserts to sort out and compare the three major management models of personal credit reporting both in China and abroad---the public, the market-oriented, and the industrial. This part of discussion will focus on the four major aspects of the personal credit investigation, namely, the pattern of organization, the legal construction, the supervision mechanism, and the protection of privacy. The main purpose is to compare the background in which the three models come into being and the advantages and disadvantages of each and every one of them, thereby providing reference for the construction of the personal credit reporting system in China.IV. By concentrating on the four major focuses of the personal credit reporting system aforementioned, referring to the background in which personal credit reporting systems are formed in other countries, and taking into consideration our country's national conditions, the thesis puts forward some suggestions concerning the construction of the personal credit reporting model in China, as follows: to develop a personal credit reporting management pattern that combines the public credit reporting model with the market-oriented credit reporting model without copying any existent management patterns of foreign countries, to perfect the laws concerning the personal credit reporting and revise the unpractical contents in the present laws; to establish a supervising organization under the People's Bank of China and a supervision organization to protect personal credit information, to promote self-discipline of the industry, and to emphasize the policy of"lenient entry, stringent exit"concerning the supervision and high the punishments of credit-loss; to enhance the protection of privacy, specify the subject, content, procedure and application of the collection of information concerning personal credit, and ensure that the reporter enjoys the right of relief and the right to know the truth; to ensure that the government will give moral demonstrations, supervise and harmonize the procedures, make related laws, and provide the necessary instructions and guidance.