A Sociological Review of China's Social Credit Systems and Guanxi Opportunities for Social Mobility

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel understanding of social mobility in China by exploring the literature on social credit systems. I propose that social credit systems, which include credit rating systems and factors of social governance, can affect occupational attainment, as they may influence or function in tandem with guanxi networks. Through social credit systems, there could possibly be a new order of stratification powered by norms of social conformity. These systems can curtail social mobility efforts by designating some individuals as high risk. In addition, these systems can regulate social behaviors, as actions that are considered "right" are rewarded, while "wrong" actions result in penalties.

Accepting but not engaging with it: Digital participation in local government‐run social credit systems in China

“…The Chinese government's goal is to govern social and economic activities, solve a wide range of existing social problems related to corruption, food safety, and commercial fraud, and boost trust between different social subjects (Ding & Zhong, 2021; Kostka, 2019; Zhang, 2020). SCSs are seen more as instruments regulating social behaviors and, especially, steering good behavior and curtailing inappropriate conduct by utilizing a combination of rewards and punishments (Kostka & Antoine, 2020; Raghunath, 2020). Municipal governments also employ local SCSs as a highly flexible tool to address new (pandemic‐related) policy regulations and implement rewards and punishments that ensure local businesses and individuals follow the rules (Drinhausen & Brussee, 2021).…”

“…2 Another commonly expressed concern regarding the application of SCSs is the unfairness and lack of transparency that the development and implementation of SCSs can often lead to in Chinese society. Raghunath (2020) writes that the SCS may widen and exacerbate social inequality as it tends to classify people into different social categories based on their credit scores. Existing research also highlights concerns about how the SCSs’ scores are calculated, including the algorithms’ lack of transparency and the potential for technical/algorithmic errors, which may generate an unfair credit score (Ding & Zhong, 2021; Kostka & Antoine, 2020; Li, 2021).…”

Repercussions of Social Credit System as an ICT-Based Management System on Tourism System

“…As a matter of fact, the first commercial step of this was taken within the scope of Alibaba's Sesame Credit Score (Liu, 2019). The Integrated Systems was first named the golden project, then called the social credit system (SCS) (Jia, 2020) The system was implemented in 2020 with the integration of big data technologies into the public life (Raghunath, 2020).…”

China's corporate credit reporting system: A comparison with the United States and Germany

“…A major recent development affecting the Chinese CCR system is the social credit system (SCS, 社会信用体系), which emerged as a response to existing difficulties in regulatory enforcement and a lack of trust across society (e.g., Ye, 2015; Yu, 2016). So far, the importance of the SCS as part of the country's CCR system and the regulatory system has attracted little attention, as most scholars to this date have focused on the implications of the SCS for individuals (e.g., Dai, 2020; Raghunath, 2020), even though the corporate arm of the SCS is much further developed (Krause & Fischer, 2020).…”