The General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") has recently issued the Circular on Making a Further Improvement to the Credit Recovery Mechanism for Information on Administrative Punishment Published on the "CreditChina" Official Website and Local Credit Portals (the "Circular"), with effect from July 1, 2019.
The Circular states that according to the gravity of consequences caused by discreditable acts, information on administrative punishment will be classified into two categories, namely that for seriously discreditable acts and that for general discreditable acts. Also, the Circular clearly states that information on administrative punishment against seriously discreditable acts mainly include: 1. information regarding administrative punishment imposed on subjects for their acts that cause serious harm to natural persons' physical health or life safety; 2. information about administrative punishment given against acts which relevant laws, regulations or rules expressly state fall in serious circumstances; and 3. information on administrative punishment rendered against other seriously discreditable acts as identified by departments imposing the administrative punishment. Furthermore, the Circular emphasizes that information on administrative punishment against seriously dishonest acts shall be made public on a credit-related website for six months at least and for three years at most, from the date when the decision to impose administrative punishment is made.