Measures on the Management of Credit Restoration (Provisional) (Draft for solicitation of comments)

Chapter I: General Provisions

Chapter II: Primary Methods for Credit Restoration

Chapter III: Requirements for Credit Restoration

Chapter IV: Credit Restoration Procedures

Chapter V: Coordinated Action for Credit Restoration

Chapter VI: Oversight, Management, and Creditworthiness Education on Credit Restoration

Chapter VII: Supplementary Provisions

Measures on the Management of Credit Restoration (Provisional) (Draft for solicitation of comments)

Chapter I: General Provisions

Article 1: These measures are drafted based on the requirements of The State Council Guiding Opinions on Establishing and Improving Systems of Joint Incentives for Trustworthiness and Joint Disciplinary Action for Untrustworthiness and Accelerating the Establishment of the Social Credit System (Guofa (2016) No. 33), the State Council General Office's Guiding Opinion on Accelerating the Advancement of the Establishment of the Social Credit System with New Forms of Credit-based Regulatory Mechanisms (Guobanfa (2019) No. 35), and the State Council General Offices' Guiding Opinions on Further Improving Systems for Restraining the Untrustworthy and Building Mechanisms for Building Creditworthiness that have Longterm Effect (Guobanfa (2020) No. 49) so as to regulate efforts on credit restoration for information on untrustworthiness, to preserve credit entities' lawful rights and interests, and to further bring the establishment of the social credit system under the law.

Article 2: Credit restoration aims to guide and encourage credit entities to correct their untrustworthy behavior, eliminate negative impacts, reestablish good credit, protect the legitimate rights and interests of credit subjects, improve the credit level of the whole society, and create a positive credit environment.

Credit entities may make an application requesting credit restoration after correcting their untrustworthy behavior and eliminating negative impacts, except in situations where laws, regulations, and policy documents of the Party Central Committee and the State Council expressly provide that they may not.

Article 3: These measures apply to credit restoration activities carried out by the National Credit Information Sharing Platform, the "Credit China" website, as well as local credit information sharing platforms and credit websites designated by people's governments at the county level or above (hereinafter collectively referred to as 'credit platform websites'). These measures may be applied by reference to credit restoration carried out by information systems established by the relevant departments for industry (regulatory departments) to handle public credit information.

Where laws, regulations, and departmental rules have other provisions, follow those provisions.

Article 4: The National Development and Reform Commission is responsible for the overall planning, coordination, and guidance of credit restoration work. The social credit management departments of all levels of local people's governments are responsible for the overall coordination and guidance of credit restoration work within their jurisdictions. All relevant departments and units are to complete efforts on credit restoration in accordance with their duties and division of labor.

Chapter II: Primary Methods for Credit Restoration

Article 5: "Credit restoration" as used in these Measures refers to credit entities applications to units that have found information on untrustworthiness (hereinafter "designating units') or the units operating credit platform websites that have aggregated information on untrustworthiness (hereinafter 'aggregating bodies) after having corrected their untrustworthy behavior and eliminated negative impacts, and the designating unit or aggregating body removing the credit entity from a List of Seriously Untrustworthy Credit Entities and ending display of the information on untrustworthiness in accordance with relevant provisions, as well as labeling, blocking, or deleting information on untrustworthiness, and other such acts.

Article 6: "Information on Untrustworthiness" as used in these Measures refers to information that reflects negatively on the credit status of credit entities' credit status that is listed in the National Base Directory of Public Credit Information and local supplemental directories, including information from lists of seriously untrustworthy entities, information on administrative punishments, information on criminal punishments, and other information on untrustworthiness.

Article 7: Removal from a List of Seriously Untrustworthy Entities refers to the designating unit removing a credit subject from the relevant List of Seriously Untrustworthy Entities in accordance with relevant regulations.

Article 8: Ending the display of information on untrustworthiness refers to the designating unit or the aggregating body ending the announcement of a credit entity's information on untrustworthiness that is currently displayed on the credit website

Article 9: Labeling information on untrustworthiness refers to credit entities using credit platform websites to account for information on their untrustworthiness or explaining their corrections for those using the information.

Article 10: Blocking or deleting information on untrustworthiness refers to designating units or aggregating bodies blocking or deleting information on credit entities' untrustworthiness on credit platform websites in accordance with relevant provisions. After information on untrustworthiness is blocked or deleted, state organs are no longer to carry out punishments for untrustworthiness against credit entities based on that information, except as otherwise provided by laws and regulations.

Article 11: Other forms of credit restoration activity are to be carried out in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and department rules.

Chapter III: Requirements for Credit Restoration

Article 12: In accordance with the requirements of the General Office of the State Council's Guiding Opinions on Further Improving Systems for Restraining the Untrustworthy and Building Mechanisms for Building Creditworthiness that have Longterm Effect (State Council Office Release (2020) No.49) lists of seriously untrustworthy entities that are set up in accordance with laws and regulations shall determine standards for listing, and removal requirements and procedures, in the form of laws, regulations, policy documents of the Party Central Commission or State Council, or departmental rules.

Designating units shall strictly follow the established conditions and procedures to review and decide whether to agree to the removal of credit entities from lists of seriously untrustworthy entities.

Article 13: Display of information from the List of Seriously Untrustworthy Entities is to end within 3 working days of the designating unit's removing them from the list of seriously untrustworthy entities.

Article 14: Information from lists of seriously untrustworthy entities are to be stored for 10 years on all levels of credit information sharing platform after the date of removal, and shall be blocked or deleted where no untrustworthy conduct occurs within the 10 years; but where untrustworthy conduct does occur again, the period for retaining that piece of information is to be newly calculated.

Article 15: Information on legal persons' and unincorporated organizations' administrative punishments is to be divided into information involving minor untrustworthy conduct and that involving seriously untrustworthy conduct, based on the degree of seriousness of the untrustworthy conduct.

Administrative punishment information involving eriously untrustworthy conduct includes:

(1) Those whose permits have been temporarily seized or been cancelled;

(2) Those who have had their qualification levels lowered, or have been restricted in their production and business activities, or in their employment;

(3) Those that have been ordered to suspend production or operations, or ordered to shut down;

(4) Those who have been fined 1,000,000 RMB or more.

Other information on administrative punishments is information involving minor untrustworthy conduct.

Article 16: The determination of whether information on the administrative punishment of a legal person or unincorporated organization involves serious untrustworthy conduct shall be made by the administrative organ that gave the administrative punishment; and where the administrative organ cannot make the determination, the aggregating body is to make the determination in accordance with article 15 of these Measures.

Article 17: Information involving minor untrustworthy conduct is to be displayed for 1 year on all levels of credit website starting from the date of the administrative punishment decision, but information of administrative punishments given using the simplified procedures is not to be displayed.

Article 18: Information on administrative punishments of legal persons or unincorporated organizations involving serious untrustworthy conduct is to be displayed on all levels of credit website for 3 years from the date on which the administrative punishment decision is made; but where they have had permits cancelled, were ordered to shut down, or were permanently restricted from carrying out production and business activities, or banned for life from engaging in work, the information on the administrative punishments shall be permanently displayed.

Article 19: The following requirements apply to ending the announcement of information on administrative punishments against legal persons and unincorporated organizations:

(1) Where information on administrative punishments involving minor untrustworthy conduct has been displayed for 3 months and the credit entity has corrected the untrustworthy conduct, participated in credit restoration training and made a public credit pledge as provided, the display shall be ended upon their application.

(2) Where information on administrative punishments involving serious untrustworthy conduct has been displayed for 6 months and the credit entity has corrected the untrustworthy conduct, participated in credit restoration training and made a public credit pledge as provided, display may be ended upon their application; but they must not apply to end the display of information on administrative punishments of having permits cancelled, being ordered to shut down, permanent restrictions on carrying out production and business activities, or lifetime restrictions on engaging in professions.

Where legal persons or unincorporated organizations have been given administrative punishments involving seriously untrustworthy conduct 3 or more times in the year preceding their submission of an application for credit restoration, display must not be ended.

Article 20: The following requirements apply to the blocking or deletion of information on the administrative punishments of legal persons or unincorporated organizations:

(1) Information on administrative punishments involving minor untrustworthy conduct is to be stored on all levels of credit platform website for 3 years from the date on which the untrustworthy conduct ends, and shall be blocked or deleted where no untrustworthy conduct of the same type occurs in the 3 years; but where the same type of untrustworthy conduct occurs again in the 3 years, the period for retaining that piece of information is to be recalculated.

(2) Information on administrative punishments involving seriously untrustworthy conduct is to be stored on all levels of credit platform websites for 5 years from the date on which the conduct ends, and shall be blocked or deleted where no further untrustworthy conduct of the same type occurs in the 5 years; but where the same type of untrustworthy conduct occurs in the 5 years, that period for retaining that piece of information is to be recalculated.

(3) Information that shall be permanently displayed in accordance with the second paragraph of article 19 of these Measures is to be permanently stored on all levels of credit platform website.

Article 21: Information on criminal punishments against legal persons and unincorporated organizations is to be permanently stored and announced on credit platform websites; its announcement must not be ended and it must not be blocked or deleted.

Article 22: Where laws and regulations provide for punitive measures with time periods for illegal conduct, display must not be ended, and the information must not be blocked or deleted until the period is completed.

Article 23: Unless expressly provided by laws or administrative regulations, information on the untrustworthiness of natural persons shall not be disclosed to the public. Information on natural persons' untrustworthiness is to be stored on credit platform websites for 5 years from the day on which the conduct ends; where it exceeds 5 years, it shall be blocked or deleted.

Chapter IV: Credit Restoration Procedures

Article 24: The designating units for lists of seriously untrustworthy entities are to handle removals of credit entities from the list, as well as ending the display, blocking, and deletion of information from the lists, in accordance with the procedures provided by laws, regulations, policy documents from the Party Central Commission or State Council, or departmental procedures.

Article 25: In principle, credit entities applying to end the display of administrative punishment information shall apply to the designating units, and the designating units are to handle it in accordance with relevant provisions.

Where a designating unit is temporarily unable to accept it due to having not yet formulated a credit restoration system or for other reasons, the credit entity may submit the application to the aggregating body.

Article 26: Where credit entities apply to the aggregating bodies to end the display of information on administrative punishments, the following materials need to be submitted:

(1) Comments issued by the designating unit explaining that the responsibilities and obligations indicated in the administrative punishment decision have already been completed. If comments cannot be issued, other materials that can show that the relevant responsibilities and obligations have already been completed shall be submitted;

(2) Credit restoration pledges.

Article 27: After aggregating bodies receive applications to end the display of information on administrative punishments, they shall conduct a review of the application materials, and where the materials are complete, they shall accept it; and where the materials are incomplete or do not meet the requirements, they shall notify the credit subject one time within 3 working days to supplement them and are to accept them where they meet requirements after being supplemented.

Article 28: Aggregating entities shall make a decision on whether to end the display of information on administrative punishments within 7 working days of receipt. Where they do not end the display, they shall explain the reasons when making the decision.

Article 29: The blocking or deletion of information on the administrative punishment of legal persons or unincorporated organizations is to be implemented by designating units and aggregating bodies in accordance with article 20 of these Measures, and an application from the credit entities is not required.

Article 30: Where credit entities need to give an account of their untrustworthy conduct or explain their corrections for users of their information, they may apply to the designating units or aggregating bodies. After credit entities make a credit pledge to take responsibility for the truthfulness of the content of labels they make, the designating units or aggregating bodies shall allow the label. Where credit entities request to publicly disclose label information, the designating units or aggregating bodies shall disclose it.

Article 31: Credit entities applying for credit restoration shall adhere to the principle of honesty and trustworthiness; and if they have any deceptive or misleading conduct such as providing false supporting, making false credit pledges, or not performing on pledges, the unit accepting the application is to enter it in credit records and the national credit information sharing platform, it is to be displayed on the "Credit China" website 3 years and the display must not be ended early, and for three years eligibility to apply for credit restoration in any field is cancelled; where a crime is constituted, criminal liability is to be pursued in accordance with law.

Chapter V: Coordinated Action for Credit Restoration

Article 32: Designating units shall actively facilitate credit entities' credit restoration.

Aggregating bodies shall improve credit restoration functions on credit platform websites, to bring about online operations for accepting credit restoration applications, review and determination, and information handling processing.

Article 33: All levels of local credit platform websites shall promptly share credit restoration information with the credit platform websites at the level above, to bring about synchronous updating.

Article 34: Designating units shall share the outcome of credit restoration with the credit platform website for that level within 2 working days of making a credit restoration decision, and aggregating bodies are to synchronize updates within 2 working days of receiving the outcome of the credit restoratiion. Aggregating bodies shall share the outcomes of credit restoration with the designating units within 2 working days of making a decision on credit restoration, and the designating units are to synchronize updates within two working days of receiving the outcomes of credit restoration.

Article 35: The "Credit China" website, the National Enterprise Credit Information Display System, and the China Social Organizations Public Service Platform are to establish coordination mechanisms for credit restoration, promptly synchronize updates to credit restoration information.

Article 36: The "Credit China" website and third-party credit service establishments are to strengthen information sharing on credit restoration, to promote the realization of social cooperation in credit restoration.

Chapter VI: Oversight, Management, and Creditworthiness Education on Credit Restoration

Article 37: Designating units and aggregating bodies must not accept fees in any form from credit entities applying for credit restoration. The responsibility of relevant units and persons shall be pursued in accordance with laws and regulations for conduct of not promptly handling credit restoration as provided and directly or indirectly collecting fees from credit entities.

Article 38: In conjunction with relevant departments, the National Reform and Development Commission, and the social credit management departments for local people's governments at the county level or above shall strengthen urging and guidance on credit restoration, and promptly order corrections where problems are discovered.

Article 39: Give full play to the roles of relevant departments, industry associations, chambers of commerce, third-party credit service establishments, experts, scholars, news media, and others in promptly describing and explaining credit restoration policies. Strengthen credit restoration training for credit entities, enhancing positive guidance. Carrying out of all types of publicity and education on creditworthiness is to be encouraged to create a positive public opinion environment.

Chapter VII: Supplementary Provisions

Article 40: The National Development and Reform Commission is responsible for the interpretation of these Measures.

Article 41: These measures shall take effect on xx/xx/2021. Enforcement of any provisions related to credit restoration for any level of credit platform website that are inconsistent with these Measures is to stop.