There's a growing call to enact a specific law on credit reporting in China to help identify and monitor risks, spur borrowers to repay their debt and fulfill their contractual obligations on time, boost the development of finance and economy and advance the establishment of the social credit system.

A motion submitted to the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress in March said stipulations on protection of credit reporting subjects now exist in separate laws and regulations, which are insufficient to respond to infringement on their legitimate rights and interests. A specific law could fill the gap and help build a robust legal system, it added.

The legislation should regulate social relations among credit reporting agencies, information providers, information users and credit information subjects, clarify the legal status of the basic database of financial credit information, and improve financial ecology, according to the motion.

The law should also restrain public power and protect private rights, mobilize both  a well-functioning government and an efficient market, and optimize allocation of resources, it suggested.

Priorities should be given to several key issues in the legislation, such as specifying the rules on information collection, sorting, storing, processing, distribution and utilization, highlighting the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of data subjects, and establishing an all-round dispute resolution and remedy system for infringement, according to the motion.

China has already promulgated the Regulation on the Credit Reporting Industry as well as administrative measures for credit reporting services and agencies. Several laws that have been enacted in recent years, such as the Civil Code, the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law, may also serve as references for legislation on credit reporting.