Opinions on Appropriately Restricting, for a Specified Period, the Railway Travel of Certain Seriously Dishonest Persons to Promote the Development of the Social Credit System

To the leading units responsible for building the social credit system, the Offices of Spiritual Civilization, the Higher People’s Courts, the Departments (Bureaus) of Finance, the Departments (Bureaus) of Human Resources and Social Security, the State Taxation Administration, the Local Taxation Administrations, the branch institutions of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, railway transport enterprises, the China Academy of Railway Sciences, and the public security organs of all railways, in each province, autonomous region, directly administered municipality, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

In order to thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and to carry out General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on establishing a comprehensive credit‑based punishment framework characterized by “discredit in one place, restrictions everywhere,” in accordance with the requirements of the State Council’s Guiding Opinions on Establishing and Improving the Joint Incentive System for Trustworthiness and the Joint Punishment System for Distrustworthiness to Accelerate the Development of Social Integrity (Document No. 33 [2016] of the State Council), and to prevent the adverse impact of unlawful and untrustworthy conduct by certain passengers on railway operational safety while further strengthening penalties for serious unlawful and untrustworthy behavior in other sectors, the following measures are hereby proposed to restrict specific individuals who have committed serious breaches of trust from taking trains.

I. Scope of Restrictions

(1) Individuals responsible for acts that seriously jeopardize railway operational safety and production safety, who have been penalized by public security organs or identified by railway stations and onboard units.

1. Disrupting the order of railway station and train operations, thereby endangering railway safety and causing serious adverse social repercussions;

2. Smoking on a high-speed train or in non-smoking areas of other trains;

3. Those who have been investigated and prosecuted for reselling train tickets or manufacturing and selling counterfeit tickets;

4. Using a forged or invalid preferential (pending) identification document to purchase tickets or board trains;

5. Traveling with forged, expired, or otherwise invalid tickets, or using a ticket that has been reported lost and replaced;

6. Riding without a ticket, traveling beyond the designated stop or seat, and refusing to pay the fare;

7. Where administrative penalties should be imposed in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

Persons responsible for the aforementioned conduct shall be restricted from taking trains.

(2) Persons held accountable for serious violations of law and breaches of trust in other fields

1. Parties involved in serious tax law violations who have the ability to perform but refuse to do so;

2. Individuals responsible for serious breaches of trust in the management and use of public funds, including falsification, false reporting to fraudulently obtain funds, fraudulent appropriation, misappropriation or diversion of funds, and failure to repay maturing debts owed to international financial institutions and foreign governments;

3. In the field of social insurance, the following constitute serious acts of dishonesty by responsible parties: an employer fails to participate in social insurance as required by relevant regulations and refuses to make corrections; an employer makes false declarations regarding the social insurance contribution base and refuses to rectify such inaccuracies; an employer is obligated to pay social insurance premiums and has the financial capacity to do so but refuses to make payment; an employer conceals, transfers, misappropriates, or diverts social insurance funds, or engages in unauthorized investment or management of such funds; an individual obtains social insurance benefits through fraud, falsification of supporting documents, or other illicit means; a social insurance service provider violates the service agreement or applicable regulations; or an entity refuses to cooperate with the social insurance administrative department in investigating and verifying accidents or issues.

4. Securities and futures violations resulting in fines and confiscations that remain unpaid after the deadline; or listed companies’ relevant liable parties failing to fulfill their public commitments by the prescribed deadline.

5. Those who have been subject to consumption restriction measures by the people’s courts in accordance with relevant provisions, or who have been lawfully included on the list of discredited persons subject to enforcement;

6. For other persons who have engaged in serious acts of dishonesty and are thus subject to restrictions on traveling in higher‑class train seats, as identified by the relevant authorities, any addition of such individuals to this document shall be explicitly specified through an amendment to this document.

Individuals responsible for the aforementioned conduct shall be restricted from traveling in high‑class train seats, including soft sleepers, all seats on G‑series high-speed trains, and first‑class or higher seats on other high-speed train sets.

II. Information Collection

(1) Collection of Dishonesty Information Related to Railway Passengers

When the aforementioned conduct occurs on railway stations or trains and is subject to administrative penalties or criminal prosecution by public security authorities, the relevant railway public security bureau shall notify the corresponding railway bureau group company and include the offender on the disciplinary blacklist. For such conduct that has not been addressed by public security authorities, station and train staff shall collect relevant audio‑video evidence, obtain witness statements from two or more passengers, or secure a written statement from the person responsible; after review and verification by the railway transport enterprise, the individual shall be added to the disciplinary blacklist.

(II) Collection of Dishonesty Information in Other Relevant Fields

The National Development and Reform Commission, the Supreme People’s Court, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the State Taxation Administration, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission shall consolidate the lists—determined by their respective departments—of individuals who, due to serious breaches of trust, are subject to restrictions on traveling in high‑class railway seats, and submit these lists to the National Credit Information Sharing Platform. The Platform will then transmit the information to China Railway Corporation, which will, in accordance with prescribed national procedures, add such individuals to its list of those restricted from traveling in high‑class railway seats. Where data transmission channels have already been established with China Railway Corporation to enable the sharing of list information, the original data‑transfer channels and information‑sharing arrangements may be maintained; in such cases, the National Credit Information Sharing Platform will not duplicate the transmission of list information.

The list information provided to the China Railway Corporation shall include: the names of individuals listed on the restricted‑travel‑to‑high‑class‑seats list, their travel document numbers, and the reasons for their inclusion; where a legal document serves as the basis for such inclusion, the name and number of that legal document shall also be provided. The relevant authorities shall designate an officer responsible for handling objections to the list and notify the China Railway Corporation accordingly.

III. Publication, Enforcement, and Remedies of Rights

Each railway transport enterprise shall, on the first working day of every month, publish the full list of individuals subject to ticket‑purchase restrictions on the China Railway Customer Service Center website (12306) and the “Credit China” website. The contact information of the designated dispute‑resolution officers at the relevant authorities shall also be made public simultaneously. The list shall remain publicly posted for a period of seven working days from the date of publication. During this publicity period, the listed individuals may file an objection by calling the railway’s 12306 customer service hotline or by submitting a written appeal to the competent authorities. Upon expiration of the publicity period, if no objection is raised or if any objection is reviewed and found to be unsubstantiated, the railway transport enterprises shall commence implementing the prescribed disciplinary measures in accordance with the published list. Individuals who believe they have been wrongly included on the restricted ticket‑purchase list may request a review from the relevant authorities or organizations.

IV. Removal Mechanism

Specifically, severely untrustworthy individuals shall be appropriately restricted from taking trains for a specified period. Once the relevant entity is removed from the list of persons subject to such travel restrictions, no further restrictions on train travel shall be imposed. The specific procedures for removal are as follows:

(1) If a person responsible for misconduct engages in any of the behaviors listed in Articles 1 through 3 and Article 7 that seriously jeopardize railway operational safety or production safety, each railway transport enterprise shall restrict that person from purchasing tickets for a period of 180 days, calculated from the date on which the announcement period expires without any valid objections. Upon expiration of the 180-day period, the restriction shall be automatically lifted, and the railway transport enterprise shall resume selling tickets to that individual.

(2) If a person responsible for misconduct engages in any of the behaviors specified in Articles 4 through 6 that seriously jeopardize railway operational safety or production safety, each railway transport enterprise shall restrict that person from purchasing tickets. Once the person has paid all outstanding ticket fares, the railway transport enterprise shall resume ticket sales, effective from the day following the date of such payment. If, within one year of paying the first outstanding fare, the person commits any of the aforementioned behaviors listed in Articles 4 through 6 on three occasions, the railway transport enterprise shall resume ticket sales 90 days after the person has settled the outstanding fare (including the 90th day). Failure to settle the outstanding fare will result in the railway transport enterprise refraining from resuming ticket sales.

(3) The list of individuals subject to restrictions on traveling in high‑class train seats in other sectors shall be valid for one year, calculated from the date the public notice period expires; upon expiration of the one-year period, such individuals shall be automatically removed. During the validity period, if an individual has fulfilled all legally prescribed obligations, the relevant authorities shall, within seven working days, notify China Railway Corporation to remove the individual’s name from the list.

V. Litigation Guidance

The Supreme People’s Court has strengthened its guidance over people’s courts at all levels, ensuring that civil and administrative lawsuits arising from the implementation of the list of individuals restricted from taking trains are handled in accordance with the law. It has clarified the standards for adjudication, upheld impartial justice, and safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of all parties.

VI. Publicity Work

All relevant departments and railway transport enterprises should leverage various media platforms to harness the public‑opinion‑shaping and guiding power of the media, and vigorously carry out publicity and education campaigns on railway credit. By taking advantage of public‑interest events such as “Integrity Promotion Week,” “Work Safety Month,” “Integrity‑Driven Business Promotion Month,” “March 15 International Consumer Rights Day,” “June 14 Credit Record Care Day,” and “December 4 National Legal Awareness Day,” they should systematically and strategically disseminate information on the contents and implementation of the train‑travel restriction regime, helping the general public become familiar with and monitor its enforcement.

This notice shall take effect as of May 1, 2018.

National Development and Reform Commission

Central Office for Spiritual Civilization

Supreme People's Court

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

State Taxation Administration

China Securities Regulatory Commission

China Railway Corporation

March 2, 2018