A passenger passes the security check after scanning his face at a subway station in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on Saturday. Passengers need to upload their photos and other personal information into the security system before using the function. It only takes five seconds for passengers to get through the security door. Photo: IC

Social credit system construction, the protection of personal information and related issues caused attention during this year's two sessions. Central bank official briefed the press on Wednesday on the operation of the second-generation credit system and how the credit system protects individual rights and interests.

The unified credit system for enterprises and individuals is an important financial infrastructure in China and a basic database of national financial credit information, which plays an important role in promoting financial transactions, reducing financial risks, saving financing costs and promoting social credit awareness, said Chen Yulu, deputy governor of People's Bank of China (PBC), China's central bank, the Economic Daily reported on Wednesday.

China began providing second-generation credit report inquiry services to the public and financial institutions on January 19, 2020 and on May 4, the second-generation credit system realized complete online operation. The first-generation credit system was established in 2006 and in 2015 the central bank opened the inquiry business to private companies.

From January 19 to Tuesday, May 26, the credit system provided 103 million individual credit report queries and 22.74 million corporate queries, Chen introduced.

According to PBC, the second-generation system provides some additional information, including large credit card installment payments, revolving loans, joint borrowers and repayment records over the past five years.

"Compared with the first generation, the new generation credit system has optimized the collection and integration of loans, guarantees and other credit information, and improved the flexibility and convenience of information collection," said Chen.

In terms of data protection, Chen noted that the central bank attaches great importance to the protection of personal information and does a good job in the protection of personal information in strict accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations.

PBC has conducted strict data reporting and improved the security of personal information by technical means.

Chen stressed that the protection of personal information also requires individuals to carefully care and cherish their credit, and pay attention to the changes in their credit status.