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Photo by Andy Wong/AP

Authorities have experimented with “social credit” since 2014 in areas across China. Points are deducted for breaking the law or, in some areas, offences as minor as walking a dog without a leash.

Human rights activists say “social credit” is too rigid and might unfairly label people as untrustworthy without telling them they have lost status or how to restore it.

U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence criticized it in October as “an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life.”

The ruling party says it plans to have a nationwide “social credit” system in place by 2020 but has yet to say how it will operate.

Possible penalties include restrictions on travel, business and access to education. A slogan repeated in state media says, “Once you lose trust, you will face restrictions everywhere.”

Companies on the blacklist can lose government contracts or access to bank loans.

Offences penalized under “social credit” last year ranged from failure pay taxes to false advertising or violating drug safety rules, the government information centre said. Individuals were blocked 290,000 times from taking senior management jobs or acting as a company’s legal representative.

It gave no details of how many people live in areas with “social credit” systems.

Photo by Goh Chai Hin/AFP

“Social credit” is one facet of efforts by the ruling party to take advantage of increased computing power, artificial intelligence and other technology to track and control the Chinese public.