Implementing Opinions of the General Office of the People's Government of Hainan Province on Building a Credit Supervision-based Process Supervision System for the Hainan Free Trade Port

Qiong Fu Ban [2021] No.4

People's governments of all cities, counties, and autonomous counties; all entities directly under the People's Government of Hainan Province,

In order to implement the relevant deployment requirements of the Master Plan for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Building of a Social Credit System to Establish a New Credit-based Supervision Mechanism of the General Office of the State Council (Guo Ban Fa [2019] No.35), further strengthen the application of the social credit system, and build a credit supervision-based process supervision system that is compatible with the negative list, the following implementing opinions are hereby put forward.

I. General Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping's thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era and the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, we shall conscientiously implement the deployment requirements of the provincial CPC committee and the provincial government, strengthen the integration and innovation of systems, and actively explore the establishment of a supervision model adapted to the construction of the free trade port. By 2025, a preliminary credit supervision mechanism featuring the full coverage of market players, full process of government services, and the whole-cycle connection of ex ante, interim and ex post supervision will be established; the credit rating and classification supervision system based on industry credit evaluation in major fields will be further improved; a supervision pattern under which the government controls standards, subjects make commitments, supervision is intensified during process, and there are rewards and punishments for credit will be gradually improved; the social governance level in co-building, co-governance, and sharing will be continuously improved; and the law-based, internationalized, and convenient business environment will be continuously optimized.

II. Comprehensively Promoting the Credit and Commitment System

(I) Notification and commitment mechanism in administrative examination and approval shall be implemented comprehensively. In principle, the notification and commitment system shall be adopted for administrative examination and approval matters for which acts not meeting licensing conditions can be rectified and risks can be effectively prevented through interim and ex post supervision. In particular, in the fields of market access, the "non-prohibition means approval" and "access means approval of operation" principles shall be strictly implemented, and the "standard system plus commitment system" shall be implemented in a comprehensive manner; in the fields ensuring personal health and safety of life and property as well as ecological environment safety as prescribed in laws, regulations, and rules, meeting the basic needs for economic and social management, and implementing the mandatory standards, the licensing and record-filing shall be canceled in principle. If the licensing and record-filing cannot be canceled for the time being, in the fields where the protection of public safety and ecological environment is not directly involved, irregular acts can be rectified through interim and ex post supervision, and risks are controllable without serious consequences, the applicant may obtain a business license and a permit simultaneously by making commitments according to the contents notified by the administrative examination and approval authority. Under the premise of ensuring safety, for newly-built, modified and expanded small and low-risk projects supported by social investment, the government departments will release uniform construction commencement conditions for enterprises, and the enterprises shall make relevant commitments after obtaining land and meeting the construction commencement conditions. Once the relevant certificates are issued directly by the government departments, construction of a project may commence.

(II) Notification and commitment for certification matters shall be fully conducted. Apart from those certification matters directly related to national security, state secrets, public safety, prudent supervision of the financial industry and ecological environment protection as well as personal health and life and property safety, with important foreign-related risks, high error correction costs and irreparable damage, the applicant may commit in writing that the notification conditions have been met, and is willing to bear the legal liability for false commitments, and the administrative organ shall not ask for relevant certificates but handle relevant matters according to written commitments (including electronic text).

(III) Active commitment and industry self-regulatory credit commitments shall be actively promoted. Competent industrial departments at the provincial level shall formulate active commitment and industry self-regulatory commitment text in the unified format; give full play to the role of trade associations and chambers of commerce, and encourage market players or members of trade associations and chambers of commerce to voluntarily sign credit commitments, publicly declare the standards and quality of products and services, undertake to comply with industry management and other matters, and actively publicize credit commitments on relevant websites.

(IV) Credit repair commitments shall be implemented. When the administrative counterpart meeting the conditions for credit repair applies to the relevant administrative department for credit repair, it shall submit a letter of credit commitments as required and make it public on the websites such as the Credit China (Hainan) and the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (Hainan) (hereinafter referred to as the "Publicity System"). The format of the letter of commitments on credit repair shall be formulated and promulgated by the relevant competent industrial department at the provincial level.

(V) The working mechanism for credit commitments shall be improved. The department in charge of the reform of the administrative examination and approval system reform of the province and cities and counties shall comprehensively promote the implementation of the credit commitment system, establish and improve the credit commitment system in each industry and field, take the lead in sorting out and preparation of the list of administrative examination and approval matters to which the notification and commitment system applies, and formulate a standard and unified template for the letter of credit commitments. Each relevant website shall set up a column of credit commitments and intensify the publicity of credit commitments. The scientific definition of dishonest conduct regarding notification and commitment shall be taken as the basis for interim and ex post supervision. The degree of discrediting shall be classified according to the negative impact caused by false commitments, and differentiated disciplinary measures shall be implemented in accordance with laws and regulations. For those market players included in the list of objects of joint punishments due to being discredited of the State, Hainan Province and other provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) that have mutual recognition agreements with Hainan Province and having made false commitments, the notification and commitment system shall not apply before the credit is repaired.

III. Implementing Ex Ante Credit Supervision with Focus on Credit Inspection in an Innovative Manner

(VI) Integrity education for operators prior to the access shall be organized. Departments implementing access management at all levels in Hainan Province shall carry out prior law-abiding and good faith education when handling relevant business for market players. In some key industries and fields, especially those requiring practicing qualifications and professional qualifications and closely related to the policies of the free trade port, integrity education for practitioners shall be carried out.

(VII) The credit inspection mechanism shall be improved. All municipal and county governments and relevant departments directly under the provincial government shall prepare and use a list of credit record items, and embed credit inspection into various handling processes and related business systems. The self-starting mechanism for credit inspection of public service and supervision platforms such as public resources transactions, government procurement, administrative examination and approval, investment projects, daily supervision, and integrated management at all levels of Hainan Province shall be established and improved. The role of market-oriented credit reporting shall be brought into full play for matters involving economic interests, and the credit inspection of supervision, service and transaction objects shall be improved.

(VIII) Credit reports shall be promoted and applied. Various market players are encouraged to actively query other players' credit conditions in the production and operation activities, and take the lead in actively inquiring the credit information and credit reports of cooperative objects in the production and operation activities of state-owned enterprises in Hainan Province. Market players are supported and encouraged to register and share credit cards through websites such as "Credit China (Hainan)", and proactively display the credit status. The establishment of credit information and credit report inter-site mutual recognition mechanism with Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region shall be explored.

IV. Strengthening the Interim Credit Supervision with Focus on Rating and Classification Supervision

(IX) Comprehensive credit records of market players shall be established. Credit management departments of Hainan Province at all levels shall implement credit information management in accordance with national standards and norms. Departments of Hainan Province at all levels shall record the credit information of market players when handling matters such as registration, qualification examination, daily supervision, and public services. Credit records of market players in key fields subject to special preferential policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port on taxation, environmental protection, intellectual property rights, financial credit, medical and health, housekeeping, elderly care, food and medicine, work safety, and tourism and culture shall be established and improved. Where the discreditable information of the market players is recorded, it shall be carried out in accordance with the laws and regulations or the documents of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Various credit information of market players shall be sorted out by relying on credit information sharing platform (hereinafter referred to as the "Credit Platform") and the publicity system of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

(X) The credit evaluation of market players shall be standardized. A comprehensive public credit evaluation (hereinafter referred to as the "comprehensive credit evaluation") system of the Hainan Free Trade Port shall be established, with evaluation results propelled to government departments of Hainan Province at all levels, financial institutions, trade associations and chambers of commerce and third-party credit service institutions as an internal reference for the supplement and supervision of credit evaluation in the industries and the prevention of risks. The competent industrial departments of Hainan Province shall build a credit evaluation system covering the whole industries. The departments that have carried out the credit evaluation shall expand the evaluation fields, improve the evaluation standards and enrich the evaluation data; the departments that have not carried out credit evaluation shall speed up the establishment of an evaluation mechanism.

(XI) The establishment of a voluntary credit information declaration mechanism shall be promoted. The relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall open the declaration channels, and encourage market players to declare the credit information such as qualification certificates, market operations, contract performance, commendation and reward, and social public interest, and make a commitment as to the authenticity of the information, and authorize the management departments to share and apply relevant information. Relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall make full use of the public platforms such as the provincial government service information sharing exchange platforms and other reliable channels, to verify the declaration information. The verified autonomous declaration information can be used as indicator data for comprehensive evaluation and industry credit evaluation, and reflected in public credit reports.

(XII) The ratings and classification of credit classification shall be vigorously promoted. The comprehensive evaluation information of relevant players is embedded in various business systems for one-network administrative examination and approval, and a full-process closed-loop supervision mechanism featuring the prior provision of inquiry, interim classification supervision and subsequent formation of records shall be formed. Competent industrial departments at the provincial level shall, in combination with industrial credit evaluation, comprehensive evaluation and market credit evaluation, associate the "inspections by randomly selected inspectors of randomly selected entities and the public release of inspection results" and daily supervision with credit ratings and risk levels, encourage market players with good credit and low risks, and strictly manage and punish the market players who break any law, are discreditable and have high risks in accordance with laws and regulations.

(XIII) The verification and supervision of credit commitments shall be strengthened. For matters subject to the notification and commitment system, the scope and measures for interim verification and supervision shall be reasonably determined. If it is really necessary to determine verification measures by classification according to the characteristics of matters and the credit status of the promisors, and conduct verification by full use of public platforms such as the credit platform and the publicity system. The administrative organ shall incorporate commitment matters exempt from verification into the routine supervision scope for supervision. Where a commitment is found to be untrue or a false commitment is made in the verification or daily supervision, the administrative organ shall terminate the formalities in accordance with the law, order the market player to make corrections within a time limit, revoke the administrative decision or impose an administrative penalty, and include the player in the credit records.

V. Improving the Ex Post Supervision with Punishment for Dishonesty as the Basic Mechanism

(XIV) The identification of dishonest objects shall be standardized. Competent industrial departments at or above the county level shall strengthen the identification of all kinds of serious dishonest objects, and incorporate the market players with bad nature, serious circumstances and serious social harm to the list of dishonest objects in accordance with the law. If the joint disciplinary mechanism has not yet been established at the national level, but it is really necessary to implement it in Hainan Province, the relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall, in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations or the documents of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, formulate the administrative measures for the list of dishonest objects and sort out the supporting list of disciplinary measures.

(XV) Dishonest market players shall be urged to make rectification within a specified time limit. Special governance work regarding dishonesty in government institutions and key industries and fields shall be carried out continuously. The proactive rectification of various dishonest subjects is promoted, and if the rectification is not properly made within the specified time limit, the identification department shall remind the market players of an interview or give a warning on such interview. Interview records are pushed to the credit platform.

(XVI) A comprehensive and big pattern of disciplinary actions against discreditable behaviors shall be built. The application fields, scope and time limit of disciplinary measures for dishonesty shall be standardized. The integration of the joint reward and punishment system into the comprehensive government service examination and approval system, the business processing system, for the people, daily supervision system, decision-making auxiliary system and departmental business system shall be promoted, to realize the automatic implementation of joint rewards and punishments. The governments of all cities and counties and all relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall, in accordance with the laws and regulations, promote the implementation of market, industry and social disciplinary measures. Risks in the implementation of off-shore duty-free policies shall be prevented, and the establishment of inter-provincial joint punishment mechanisms for the list of objects of joint punishments due to being discredited shall be actively explored.

(XVII) Market and industry access prohibition measures shall be implemented in accordance with the laws and regulations. Emphasis shall be attached to the fields directly related to the life and property safety of the people such as food and drug, ecological environment, engineering quality, work safety, care for the elderly and children, health care, and urban operation safety, as well as major fields of the Hainan Free Trade Port such as taxation, culture and tourism, intellectual property rights, and financial credit. The supervision and punishment of seriously illegal and dishonest subjects shall be strengthened. The market and industry access prohibition measures shall be implemented in accordance with the laws and regulations within a specified time limit against the market players and relevant responsible persons who refuse to perform judicial decisions or administrative penalties, have repeatedly made mistakes, causing significant losses and serious harm to social order, and significantly violet laws and destructive environmental resources.

(XVIII) The liability for violation of the laws and dishonesty shall still be investigated in accordance with the law. For the market players listed in the list of joint punishments for dishonesty, their legal representatives or major principals, actual controllers and persons directly liable for relevant events shall be punished in accordance with the laws and regulations. Where the organs or public institutions or state-owned enterprises commit illegal and dishonest behaviors, it shall be notified to the superior competent entities and the audit departments; if the staff members commit illegal and dishonest conduct, it shall be notified to their entities and relevant discipline inspection, supervision and organization and personnel departments.

(XIX) The disclosure and publicity of credit supervision information shall be vigorously promoted. Information on administrative acts such as administrative penalties and administrative licenses shall be publicized on the Internet within a prescribed time limit. The relevant information on natural persons, market players and their associated personnel included in the list of objects of joint punishments due to being discredited shall be made public actively in accordance with the laws and regulations.

VI. Strengthening the Support and Guarantee of Credit Supervision

(XX) The guarantee of the rule of law shall be strengthened. The formulation and implementation of local credit laws and regulations shall be accelerated, and adding credit terms shall be taken into comprehensive consideration in the promotion of formulation of and adjustment to relevant industrial laws and regulations. Relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall, in accordance with the national rules and standards, focus on the issuance of implementing measures for credit commitments, credit supervision, and credit repair, prepare the list of credit supervision matters, and refine the rules for the operation of credit supervision. The relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall strengthen the guidance for the work of governments of all cities and counties.

(XXI) Emphasis shall be attached to improving the information technology level of credit supervision. The hub role of credit platforms in information collection and application shall be strengthened. The comprehensive platforms such as "Internet + Supervision" platform and publicity system and the construction of credit information systems in various industries shall be optimized. By relying on the provincial government information sharing exchange platform, we shall promote the in-depth integration of the credit platform with all kinds of comprehensive platforms and industrial information systems in Hainan Province, and build a "one network" of credit supervision in Hainan Province.

(XXII) The supply of public credit services shall be strengthened. Public welfare credit report inquiry, credit review and other services shall be provided for the public, and the application of mobile terminals shall be promoted. We shall accelerate the embedding of credit service functions in various public service platforms and government APPs, and support the credit entities to inquire their own public credit information through market-based business platforms and APPs in accordance with the law. We shall deepen the application of credit information and credit products in precise investment attraction, precise support, and financing services for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

(XXIII) The role of new technologies such as the Internet and big data in supporting credit supervision shall be brought into full play. Credit risk assessment shall be carried out by full use of new generation of information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, and effective integration of public credit information, market credit information, complaint and tip-off information and relevant information of the Internet and third parties. Market players are encouraged to enhance the efficiency of law enforcement and supervision by adoption of non-contact supervision methods such as the Internet of Things and the Internet.

(XXIV) The safety protection of credit information shall be effectively strengthened. Illegal leakage and tampering of credit information, use of credit information for personal gain, and other acts shall be seriously investigated and punished. The strict graded network security protection system shall be implemented, and various credit platforms and credit websites of Hainan Province at all levels shall be constructed and operated according to the requirements for Grade III protection.

(XXV) Trade organizations and credit service institutions are actively instructed to render cooperation in supervision. Credit trade associations and credit service institutions are encouraged to provide professional services in terms of credit repair training, credit information sharing, credit system research, credit evaluation, and credit promotion. The relevant entities directly under Hainan Province are supported in authorizing trade associations and chambers of commerce to assist in industrial credit construction and credit supervision. Trade associations and chambers of commerce are encouraged to set up member credit records, and instruct their respective industries to enhance the awareness of operation in good faith in accordance with the law. Departments of the whole Hainan Province at all levels shall carry out credit information exchange and sharing with credit service institutions and big data institutions in accordance with the law and regulations, and strengthen cooperation on credit big data analysis, credit risk early warning, etc. We shall accelerate the cultivation of local credit reporting institutions, and encourage the research and development of credit products suitable for the Hainan Free Trade Port.

VII. Strengthening the Protection of Rights and Interests of Market Players

(XXVI) The credit repair mechanism shall be established and improved. Where the market players included in the list of joint punishments for dishonesty meet the conditions for credit repair, the identification departments shall repair the credit. If no credit repair mechanism is in place for the time being, the competent industrial departments at the provincial level shall establish a repair mechanism to carry out credit repair by making credit commitments, completing the rectification of dishonesty, passing credit verification, accepting special training, submitting credit reports, and participating in public welfare activities or volunteering activities. Governments of all cities and counties and relevant departments directly under Hainan Province are encouraged to entrust credit service institutions to assist in carrying out credit repair services. The credit repair of administrative penalties shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State; the information on dishonesty that has been repaired shall be cancelled and publicized on relevant websites at the same time.

(XXVII) The system of complaints concerning the objection to credit information shall be established and improved. The information providing and collecting entities shall verify the objection information as soon as possible. Where the legitimate rights and interests of a market player are impaired due to wrong identification of the list of objects of joint punishments due to being discredited or wrong adoption of joint disciplinary measures for dishonesty, the identification entity and entity imposing joint disciplinary measures for dishonesty shall withdraw the market player from the list in a timely manner and take measures to eliminate adverse effects.

VIII. Organization and Implementation

(XXVIII) Organizational leadership shall be strengthened. The leading department of the provincial social credit system shall continuously carry out the assessment of the construction of the credit system, and promote the incorporation of the construction of the social credit system into other relevant assessment and evaluation systems such as the rule of law government and the business environment. The leading department of the provincial social credit system shall continuously carry out the assessment of the construction of the credit system, and promote the incorporation of the construction of the social credit system into other relevant assessment and evaluation systems such as the rule of law government and the business environment. The relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall effectively assume the primary responsibilities for industrial credit construction and credit supervision, give play to the synergy of social organizations and credit service institutions, and integrate the resultant force of the whole society to participate in the credit supervision.

(XXIX) Demonstration of the pilot program shall be deepened. The relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall actively carry out the demonstration of industrial credit supervision, focus on credit commitments, credit repair, joint punishments for dishonesty, application of credit innovation and other major tasks, and actively explore new supervision models that are compatible with the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. The pilot program shall be carried out to promote the combination of "inspections by randomly selected inspectors of randomly selected entities and the public release of inspection results" and comprehensive evaluation, market players' credit risks and industrial credit evaluation. The cities and counties with better foundation for the construction of credit systems such as Haikou City and Sanya City are striving to create national credit demonstration cities.

(XXX) Importance is attached to publicity and training. The governments of all counties and counties and all relevant departments directly under Hainan Province shall strengthen publicity and reporting and policy interpretation, so that all market players and operators can fully understand and actively cooperate with the credit-based process supervision measures. The business training for relevant personnel of Hainan Province at all levels and all departments, especially grass-roots and frontline supervisors shall be strengthened, and their ability and level to implement new regulatory measures shall be continuously improved.

A document on the breakdown of tasks for the implementing opinions shall be issued separately by the Working Office of the Joint Meeting for the Building of the Social Credit System of Hainan Province.

General Office of the People's Government of Hainan Province

January 30, 2021

(All information in the documents are authentic in Chinese and their English versions are provided for reference only. In case of any discrepancy, the Chinese versions shall prevail.)