The number of people on the dishonest list has decreased for the first time in ten years. According to the data in the work report of the Supreme People's Court adopted at the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 11, 2.457 million people will be included in the dishonest list in 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 23.4%; 2.821 million people returned to the market through credit repair, a year-on-year increase of 35.4%, surpassing the number of people included in the dishonesty list for the first time. Some deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference were deeply impressed with this set of data. The Supreme People's Court has made very beneficial explorations and practices in this regard, issuing judicial interpretations such as the crime of refusal to execute, increasing the punishment for dishonest individuals, and effectively forming a deterrent. At the same time, it accurately distinguishes between 'dishonesty' and 'disability', scientifically evaluates and legally repairs the credit of 'disabled' persons who have no property available for execution, and promotes their return to normal production and life, "Zhang Yi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and senior partner of King&Wood Mallesons, told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network. In Zhang Yi's view, the precise application of the list system for dishonest persons subject to enforcement is of great benefit to effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved, promoting the construction of the social credit system, and creating a legal business environment. The list system of dishonest persons subject to enforcement plays an important role in improving the quality and efficiency of enforcement, forcing the persons subject to enforcement to actively fulfill their obligations, and promoting the construction of a social integrity system. The head of the Enforcement Bureau of the Supreme People's Court told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that the people's court will adhere to the "two pronged approach" of mandatory enforcement in accordance with the law and good faith and civilized enforcement, and continue to promote the construction of credit punishment and repair mechanisms for dishonest persons subject to enforcement. The operation of the dishonesty list for more than ten years has helped solve the problem of "difficult enforcement". Data shows that in 2024, the total amount of enforcement by courts at all levels in China reached 2.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%, equivalent to 1.73% of GDP. The execution of cases continues to operate at a high level, and the execution work faces complex and diverse situations such as "large quantities, difficult tasks". The people deeply condemn the serious dishonest behavior of some executed persons who try their best to avoid or resist execution. In response to strong public feedback on the difficulty of enforcement and to ensure timely realization of the rights and interests of winning parties, in 2013, the Supreme People's Court and 60 units including the National Development and Reform Commission jointly established a list system for dishonest persons subject to enforcement. In 2016, the central government issued opinions on the punishment of dishonest persons subject to enforcement. The head of the Supreme People's Court Enforcement Bureau introduced that since its operation, the list system of dishonest persons subject to execution has played an important role in cracking down on malicious debt evasion, serious dishonest behaviors such as evading execution, evading execution, and resisting execution, educating and guiding the executed persons and the whole society to be honest and trustworthy, and promoting the formation of a trend of "honesty is glorious, dishonesty is shameful", achieving significant results. The person in charge pointed out that "the executed person" does not mean "the dishonest executed person". The relevant judicial interpretations of the Supreme People's Court clearly stipulate that the person subject to enforcement can only be included in the list of dishonest persons if they have obstructed or resisted enforcement by forging evidence, violence, threats, or other methods, evaded enforcement by false litigation, false arbitration, or by concealing or transferring property, violated the property reporting system, and have the ability to perform but refuse to fulfill the obligations determined by effective legal documents. From this, it can be seen that the prerequisite for the debtor to be included in the dishonesty list is the existence of serious illegal and dishonest behavior The head of the Supreme People's Court Enforcement Bureau stated that the people's courts maintain a high-pressure situation to crack down on dishonest behavior. As of the end of February 2025, the list of dishonest persons subject to enforcement has reached 8.4996 million, and 101 joint disciplinary measures have been implemented against dishonest persons subject to enforcement, restricting their appointment as public officials, legal representatives of enterprises, and bidding. By imposing strong punishment, we can convey a strong signal to society that dishonesty must be severely punished, so that those who violate trust will be warned, restrained, and punished The head of the Supreme People's Court Executive Bureau told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that in recent years, through comprehensive governance of dishonest behavior, the public's awareness of the rule of law and integrity has been continuously improved, and the law enforcement and judicial environment has been continuously improved, which has effectively promoted the construction of the social credit system. The automatic performance rate of effective civil and commercial judgments in China has been increasing year by year, reaching 57.99% by 2024. He pointed out that the list of dishonest persons subject to enforcement has become an indispensable basic and authoritative information in China's social integrity system, and the joint credit punishment system of multiple departments has become an important achievement in the construction of China's social integrity system. While ensuring the realization of creditors' rights, the people's court practices the concept of good faith and civilized execution, minimizing the impact on the debtor. On March 2nd, a dishonest debtor in Baoding City, Hebei Province, reported through the 12368 court service hotline that he urgently needed to take a flight home on the day of his family's death. The executing judge adheres to the concept of good faith and civilized execution, and through the single lifting system, urgently lifts the flight restrictions for the parties involved. The parties involved are very grateful for the court's flexible enforcement and express their willingness to actively correct dishonest behavior. It is reported that if the person subject to enforcement who has been included in the list of dishonest individuals needs to travel to other places urgently due to their own or their close relatives' serious illness seeking medical treatment, close relatives' funeral, or their performance or cooperation in performing official duties, participating in foreign affairs activities or important exams, the people's court may temporarily lift the punishment measures for dishonesty to meet their necessary transportation needs. Since 2023, courts at all levels across the country have ensured 119400 people who have been executed for breach of trust in emergency situations to purchase tickets and board flights through a single lifting of restrictions. Accurately distinguishing between "dishonesty" and "disability" to help "honest but unfortunate" debtors. "Thank you very much to the judge. This decision has given our company new hope. We will fulfill our repayment obligations seriously and actively organize resumption of work and production. In this case, the presiding judge considered that although the debtor, a certain machinery company, had engaged in dishonest behavior and encountered some difficulties in operation, it had development prospects. Therefore, they decided to apply a grace period system and temporarily suspend its inclusion in the list of dishonest enterprises, allowing the struggling enterprises to "breathe a sigh of relief". Ultimately, the executed enterprise was able to revitalize and repay its debts. In judicial practice, in addition to dishonest debtors who have the ability to refuse to perform, there is also a type of case where the debtor loses the ability to perform and has no property available for execution. Even if the court exhausts all measures, it is impossible to actually execute. They are often referred to as' honest but unfortunate 'debtors. It is reported that since 2023, the people's courts have been based on serving the overall economic and social development, strengthening the concept of good faith and civilized execution, paying more attention to distinguishing between "dishonesty" and "incompetence" with no property available for execution, strengthening screening and management, and preventing the inclusion of "incompetence" but no "dishonesty" behavior of the executed person in the dishonesty list. The punishment for dishonesty has been focused on a small number of behaviors that evade execution, evade execution, and resist execution. For those "honest but unfortunate" debtors, the people's court will try its best and take multiple measures to help them get out of the debt dilemma, and maximize their efforts to operate, fulfill their obligations, and return to the market. To this end, the people's courts are exploring the application of the "one suspension" and "two verifications" mechanisms for punishing dishonesty, and strengthening the governance of the source of dishonest behavior. For market entities that have temporarily broken their funding chain and engaged in dishonest behavior, but still have development potential and the possibility of treatment, the people's court will grant them a grace period for dishonest punishment, allowing them to consciously correct their dishonest behavior, and revitalize the assets of the operating entities through settlement, installment performance, merger and reorganization, introduction of third-party funds, and other methods to help the operating entities get out of difficulties. At the same time, the people's courts regularly verify whether the executed persons who have been included in the list of dishonesty have lost their ability to perform and other "incapacitation" situations, actively promote the work of "conversion of execution to bankruptcy" and "clearing of personal debts", and avoid "one acceptance"; Regularly verify whether the dishonest debtor has actively corrected their dishonest behavior, and flexibly adopt enforcement measures such as "live sealing and live deduction" for debtors who have the ability to restore business and have salvage value. Wang Fei, a deputy to the National People's Congress, said that the classified measures of "dishonesty" and "disability" "indicate that laws are not cold provisions, but humanized and warm, which further highlights the justice for the people". The execution of work is not one-way, involving not only the applicant for execution, but also the executed party, third parties, and various stakeholders. The aggregation of specific execution cases is also related to the overall situation of China's economic development, financial stability, social stability, and so on In the view of Chen Hangping, a professor at Tsinghua University Law School and director of the Dispute Resolution Research Center at Tsinghua University Law School, sometimes leaving more room for maneuver for the executed person can "revive" the enterprise and restore the confidence of natural persons to return to society, rather than lying on the list of untrustworthy executed persons and completely "ruining" it. Improving the credit repair system helps promote "hematopoietic regeneration". "Some enterprises are not maliciously caused by" dishonesty ", some are owed debts by the first party, or trapped in long-term" triangular debts "." Peng Jing, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and founding partner of Chongqing Jingsheng Law Firm, observed that some private enterprises have been included in the dishonesty list due to historical legacy problems or temporary business difficulties, leading to limited financing, decreased market competitiveness, and even falling into a vicious cycle of "dishonesty - difficult repair - re dishonesty". Therefore, Peng Jing suggests accelerating the construction of a nationally unified and standardized enterprise credit repair system. The head of the Supreme People's Court Enforcement Bureau told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that in recent years, people's courts have actively used credit repair mechanisms to help executed persons who have corrected their dishonest behavior to repair their credit in a timely manner, and to assist them in returning to the market and economic regeneration. Build a differentiated credit reward mechanism, issue differentiated proof documents based on the performance of obligations by parties at different stages such as trial, just entering the execution procedure, and court taking compulsory measures, to guide debtors to actively fulfill their obligations. In a case handled by the People's Court of Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province, the executed company, which was originally a leader in the industry, was heavily in debt due to investing in other industries. Since 2024, multiple companies have been negotiating cooperation and their performance is expected to improve. However, due to the company's lack of credibility, it is unable to participate in project bidding. The executing judge obtained the consent of the applicant for execution and, after actively correcting the dishonest behavior of the executed company, carried out credit repair on the company. The company was able to resume production and operation and reached a settlement plan with the applicant for execution in installments. In this case, the executing judge did not 'execute' anything, but instead exchanged the 'delay' in compulsory enforcement measures for the 'progress' in the development of the enterprise's operation and the' gain 'of the creditors, turning the situation from a lose lose situation to a win-win situation When commenting on this case, the head of the Supreme People's Court Executive Bureau said that promoting trustworthy incentives through systems such as credit repair certificates not only protects the legitimate rights and interests of winning parties, but also creates conditions for potential business entities to "regenerate" and further strengthen their confidence, providing judicial assistance for promoting steady economic development and stimulating market vitality. The head of the Supreme People's Court Executive Bureau stated that in the next step, the people's courts will further strengthen the classification and grading, improve the accuracy of dishonesty punishment, more accurately distinguish between "dishonesty" and "disability", conduct typological analysis and summary of specific factors that should be considered and evaluated before implementing dishonesty punishment measures, and promote the improvement of the grading punishment and credit repair system. (New Society)