The new guidance clarifies enforcement mechanisms, standardizes data use, and tightens legal boundaries for credit penalties. First introduced through pilot programs in the early 2010s, the social credit system was developed as a governance framework to encourage legal and commercial compliance across government, business, and civil society. China ’s much-maligned (but widely misunderstood) social credit system underwent its most recent update in March 2025 with the publication of a 23-point