By the end of 2008, China's personal "credit archives," or personal credit investigation system, had already established archives for 640 million people, up 40 million from a year earlier.

Su Ning, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), said this during the 2009 People's Bank of China Credit Investigation Work Conference on Monday.

By the end of 2008, the national enterprise credit investigation system included 14.47 million enterprises and other organizations; the personal credit investigation system included 640 million people, of which 140 million people had credit records.

The PBOC established the system at the end of 2004 to help commercial banks reduce their loan risks. It is the largest credit information pool in the world.

The database includes loan, credit card use, insurance and bill payment information of individuals and companies.

Individuals can view their credit file by presenting their ID cards at local PBOC branches or by phone.

By People's Daily Online

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-03/17/content_212975.htm