A nationwide personal credit database, as a platform shared by commercial banks, collects and keeps personal credit information, has officially started its operation in January 2006 after one year of trial operation.

In recent years, the People’s Bank of China has been organizing commercial banks to build a nationwide personal credit information database in line with the decisions adopted by the government to build a social credit registry system. As a vital part of the infrastructure of corporate and personal credit registry system, the database contains information such as borrowing from and repaying commercial banks, credit card transactions and tendering guarantee, as well as personal identity information, provides personal credit information online inquiry service to commercial banks to satisfy their need in preventing and managing credit risks, and serve the need of monetary policy conduct and financial regulation.

The database now contains personal identity information of 340 million natural persons, out of which 35 million have credit record. At end 2005, the database contained information of a total of 2.2 trillion yuan worth of personal loans outstanding, accounting for about 97.5 percent of the total consumer credit outstanding in the country. Wherever a natural person borrows or repays loan in the country, provides basic information when opening a settlement account with a bank, the information thus generated will be kept in the database and can be accessed by credit review staff of commercial banks with written approval from the person in question. Many commercial banks have made inquiry with personal credit information database part of the established pre-lending assessment procedure. Personal credit information database has opened 52,000 user terminals at commercial bank branches throughout the country, and the number of credit report inquiries averages at 110,000 daily. This system has contributed to higher credit review efficiency, more convenience in borrowing, prevention of non-performing loans occurrence and over-indebtedness on the part of borrowers, and helped to set interest rate on the basis of credit risks. ( PBOC )