Courts and banks linked to monitor defaulters' property

Chinese courts, government branches and banks have established an internal network to better control deposits of those who default on court fines.

A nationwide network was launched by the Supreme People's Court on Wednesday, linking 27 higher courts, the Ministry of Public Security, industrial watchdogs, headquarters of commercial banks and banking and securities regulators.

The network allows law enforcement staff to control the debtors' money via the Internet. "Through the network, (authorities) can inquire about the defaulters' deposit in 3,000 banks across the country within one hour," said SPC official Liu Guixiang.

Authorities hope to develop it to cover more departments and all bank branches, allowing them to monitor the defaulters' travel, hotel records and their equities such as the shares, houses, vehicles, lands and mines, according to the SPC.

Chinese courts are plagued by the fact that only 20 percent of the court decisions have been implemented in recent years, affecting the judicial authority and credibility, according to Liu.

Last year, the SPC established a blacklist of defaulters. Those on the list are restrained from purchasing train and plane tickets, in order to pressure them to pay debts.

In one case, a defaulter blacklisted by the Hainan courts was refused a plane ticket to Beijing, prompting him to immediately pay off his 4.08 million yuan (about 660,000 U.S. dollars) of debt as he didn't want to miss his daughter's wedding ceremony.

The blacklist has also been published on the Internet for reference of the public. "Now some businessmen have began checking the blacklist before a deal to make sure that their business partners are not on the list," said Liu.

As of December 10, the SPC had publicized the names of 770,000 individual and corporate defaulters, with 90,000 restrained from purchasing plane tickets, he added.

Liu also said the SPC is considering criminal punishment for those who refuse to default court orders or violently resist the law enforcement.