A woman checks her personal credit record in a local PBC services hall in Central China's Henan Province. File photo: IC

China banned 307 "discredited" people from taking trains in May, with 960 being restricted from taking planes, as part of an effort to build the country's social credit systems which officials vowed on Wednesday to accelerate.

At a meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet, chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, officials said the country will accelerate the construction of a social credit system and build new market supervision framework that matches the system. China's social credit system aims to improve citizens' behavior and restore social order.

A total of 302 travelers who smoked on high-speed trains, disrupted railway transportation order, threatened railway safety or caused serious adverse social effects, as well as those who refused to pay for ticket extensions, have been restricted from taking trains, according to a statement released by the National Public Credit Information Center on Wednesday. The list of banned travelers was provided by China Railway Corp. 

The civil aviation administration provided a list of 955 people who have engaged in such behavior as smoking, violating the usage rules of electronic products and carrying restricted items on the plane, obstructing aviation employees from carrying out their responsibilities or launching personal attacks toward them. 

Another five people who failed to pay securities and futures administrative fines were banned from buying high-level seat tickets on trains and planes.

In May, 276,835 items of information concerning dishonest entities were added to the credit blacklist, involving 246,553 entities. 

China aims to build the world's largest social credit system by the end of 2020. Relevant departments have published blacklists of individuals and enterprises monthly since June 2018, which analysts said could "name and shame" entities involved in misconduct.   

Chinese courts have issued orders that restrict defaulters from leaving the country. The legal representative of a subsidiary of China's debt-ridden bike-sharing platform Ofo Chen Zhengjiang was barred by the Shanghai court from going across the border as a result of failure to repay debts.  

Analysts said China's social credit system will help build an "honest and orderly country" that makes life easier for honest people while discredited persons could face difficulties everywhere.


Newspaper headline: More names added to travel bans for bad behavior