Policy issued to help individuals repair creditworthiness

The central bank on Dec. 22 announced a one-time credit repair policy designed to more accurately reflect individuals’ current creditworthiness and help those who have repaid small overdue debts rebuild their records.

Under the policy, overdue personal credit entries arising between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2025 for single items of no more than 10,000 yuan will not be displayed in the central credit reporting system provided the overdue debt is repaid in full by March 31, 2026. The measure is a one-off special treatment and does not apply to delinquencies incurred in 2026 or later.

To ensure fairness around the holiday period, the central bank has set a three-month grace window. Individuals who fully repay qualifying overdue debts during the grace period will also benefit. Those who settled eligible overdue amounts on or before Nov. 30, 2025 will see the related records removed from the credit system effective Jan. 1, 2026. For repayments made between Dec. 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, the system will stop displaying the relevant overdue information by the end of the month following the repayment.

The relief is automatic and free — no application is required and individuals do not need to authorize any third party to act on their behalf. Any person or organization soliciting money or personal information in exchange for helping apply the policy is committing fraud.