(ECNS) -- A district in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province is planning to establish a credit system that will significantly affect an applicant's qualification to education and household registration (also known as hukou) in the city.
A department in Tianhe District said it's working with Guangdong Province Credit Research Association to start a social credit system, putting those with lower credibility scores on a black list.
Individuals will lose a point in credit if they are found to litter, sell goods or services without approval, steal, cheat, or park cars incorrectly and cause traffic jams. Individuals can gain points if they participate in voluntary activities in the local community, act bravely and show other virtues.
The most rigid requirement in the system covers illegal home rentals, with the offender barred entirely from credit point-based public services.
Li Ming, director of the department, said the system integrates rewards and penalties to deter discreditable people.
Those who work in the district but have a household registered in other places must meet certain credit requirements when they want to send their children to study at local schools, apply for public housing and access other public resources.
Tianhe District has 839,500 homes on the rental market and is challenged with governing a floating population of 1.35 million while managing public resources.
