ISSUING AUTHORITY:

General Office of the State Council

DATE OF ISSUANCE:

March 29, 2026

EFFECTIVE DATE:

March 29, 2026

The General Office of the State Council has issued the Implementation Plan on Establishing a Comprehensive Evaluation System for Enterprise Credit Status (the “Plan”), effective March 29, 2026. This marks a shift from fragmented exploration to a more unified and coordinated credit evaluation framework.

The Plan establishes a two-tier framework of public and market-oriented credit evaluation. Government-led public credit evaluation focuses on enterprises’ legal compliance to support regulatory oversight. Conducted by third-party bodies like credit reference and rating agencies, market-oriented evaluation assesses corporate default risks in market activities, facilitating commercial dealings and financing. The two evaluations will be closely integrated to form a unified, comprehensive enterprise credit profile.

Public credit ratings are standardized into four grades: A, B, C and D, with enterprises able to access their own results independently. Notably, the Plan explicitly encourages preferential treatment and conveniences for creditworthy enterprises, especially Grade A ones, in bidding processes, reinforcing incentives for trustworthy behavior.

Additionally, the Plan mandates improving the public credit evaluation system and unifying its rules, industry governance and disclosure channels; standardizing market-oriented evaluation and enhancing mechanisms for credit restoration, objections and appeals; and strengthening credit evaluation’s role in supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprise financing.

Local authorities and relevant departments will advance data sharing, process optimization and supporting regulatory improvements. The unified credit evaluation system will foster fair competition, underpin the national unified market, and consolidate the foundation for corporate compliance governance.

Reference:

国务院办公厅印发《关于建立企业信用状况综合评价体系的实施方案》的通知