(SCMP) – China is moving forward rapidly its plans for a controversial social credit rating system that will include 33 million companies, raising fears of reprisals among foreign firms as Beijing seeks to extend its control over the business environment in the country. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is pushing ahead with social credit-based supervision of all commercial entities from large firms to small, independently owned and operated business, prompting complaints about corporate privacy and heavy-handed government intervention. The social credit rating will include court rulings, tax records, environmental protection issues, government licensing, product quality, work safety, and administrative punishments by market regulators.

Advocates argue that it will help create better corporate citizens, but critics say that it will give greater latitude to local officials to target certain firms. In a circular released on Monday, the NDRC said it had completed its initial assessment of the credit results, which will now be sent back to local authorities for further checks and updates. Firms will be labeled as having excellent, good, fair or a poor credit rating, with the initial assessment used as “basic proof” to allow the government to conduct varying degrees of supervision. For any business deemed to have a poor credit history, the management will be called in by local officials for a detailed review, which will include plans to correct the problems. READ MORE