Just how good is your credit? That is what public service
officials are now asking applicants during the interview
process.
The credit record has become a key factor when judging the
qualifications of public service applicants in one district of
Shanghai.
"Personal credit is more stressed than before in the recruitment
of new public servants because of the special characteristics of
the profession," said an official surnamed Jiang from the Personnel
Bureau under Shanghai's Yangpu district government.
"Public servants usually represent the image of governmental
organs, and they should have a better credit performance than many
other professionals," he said.
Jiang is responsible for the recruitment of public servants in
the Yangpu District. His bureau is reportedly the first in the city
to introduce credit records in the examination of public service
applicants.
Such credit examinations are used mainly to find out whether
applicants have paid their bank debts and other utility bills on
time.
According to Jiang, applicants who have passed the public
service written examination are required to fill out a special form
authorizing the bureau to investigate their credit performance.
"We usually have this process completed before the interview,
and if we find applicants with a bad record, according to the
database, we will ask them to explain their reasons," he said.
"Flawed records and unconvincing explanations will lead to many
disadvantages for people who want to become public servants."
The Yangpu Personnel Bureau launched the credit examination in
2005. So far no applicant has been found with a previous bad
record, Jiang said.
The bureau, however, is now considering increasing the
examination's requirements, for example, checking traffic
violations.
The source used by Jiang's bureau to check credit worthiness is
the so-called "Shanghai individual credit information collection
system" operated by the Shanghai Credit Information Services Co.
The company was founded in 1999 and supported by the Shanghai
Municipal Information Commission. The system has already collected
credit information on more than 7.7 million people.
An unidentified source from the information commission said a
special information collection system for public servants will be
established in the city, which means it may be extended outside
Yangpu.
But an official from the Shanghai Personnel Bureau said the
credit examination system would be a "big task" if implemented in
the city.
It would require the cooperation of many different government
departments because personal credit issues concern many different
aspects of an individual's daily activities.
(China Daily March 13, 2007)