The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will look to further annul
credit risks as well as strengthen commercial security by
permitting a more widespread use of its credit database, said a
senior official of the PBOC.
The database currently covers 560 million individuals and more
than 11.6 million businesses and provides a free search service
from 200,000 terminals, averaging 260,000 checking requests per
day, Su Ning, deputy PBOC president, announced at a seminar on
credit risk management.
Those terminals are located across all of China's financial
institutions, including commercial banks, non-banking financial
agencies, rural credit cooperatives and institutions managing
public housing funds, Su said.
Those companies soon able to access the database will be those
providing financial guarantees and leasing services,
telecommunication firms and public utility enterprises, he
said.
The database also contains personal details of individuals and
their payment defaults on mortgage loans, social security funds,
public housing funds, and bills for mobile and land-line
phones.
For a country where tradition sees people prefer to carry cash
around than store it in banks, such a database proved arduous to
set up, said Wan Cunzhi, deputy director of the PBOC's Credit
Investigation Bureau, adding that most of the information was
collected by commercial banks.
He said the PBOC was discussing increasing the database's
coverage to tracking tax payments and civil compensation with the
State Administration of Taxation and the Supreme Court of
China.
Linked with the information system of the Ministry of Public
Security, the database would be of great benefit to financial
institutions in detecting those using fake identities to cheat on
loans and set up credit rankings which would help banks identify
defaulters.
Most individuals being tracked were people with bank accounts.
"The scope is to expand, but it will not grow fast as the remaining
population is comprised mainly the elderly and children who are
economically inactive," Wan said.
Su Ning said the database had improved the credit environment of
China, but that more should be done to educate both the public and
financial institutions as to its existence.
The government will maintain a centralized credit database as it
will eventually yield the full picture of the financial status of
Chinese people and enterprises as well as better support the
cross-regional flow of business and individuals.
(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2007)
