China’s social credit system is a set of regulations and digital infrastructure designed to assess the “trustworthiness” of individuals, companies, and public bodies. It gathers data from a wide range of sources—such as payment histories, legal records, and online behaviour—to assign scores or place citizens on blacklists. The stated goal is to promote virtuous behaviour, deter law-breaking, and improve social “trust”. However, critics warn that the system results in pervasive surveillance, restrictions on individual freedoms, and the risk of errors or arbitrary discrimination.

In everyday life, the system can influence one’s ability to travel, obtain loans, book hotels, use bike-sharing services, enrol children in private schools, and even access faster internet connections—depending on one’s score or inclusion on a blacklist. Central authorities, including the Supreme People’s Court and the People’s Bank of China, have set national guidelines for managing exclusion lists targeting those who fail to comply with civil rulings, tax obligations, or administrative regulations.

Meanwhile, private operators such as Ant Financial—with its Zhima Credit service—have experimented with numeric scoring models based on spending behaviour, payment history, and social network connections, offering perks such as streamlined bureaucracy and fast-track loans for users with high ratings. To feed these assessments, the system draws on multiple data sources: mobile payment apps (Alipay, WeChat Pay) that track every transaction and repayment punctuality, public court records that list defaulters, real-time transport data to monitor movements and penalise cancellations or misuse, surveillance cameras and facial recognition in urban spaces, reports of civic violations—from failing to recycle to breaking traffic rules—and even quizzes and civic participation on government apps.