Courts crack down on noncompliance with rulings

Chinese courts will continue a hard-line crackdown on noncompliance with court rulings, despite the continuing decline in the number of people added to the national dishonesty blacklist, China's top court said.

To better protect litigants' legitimate rights and interests, the Supreme People's Court launched an online blacklist in 2013 that discloses personal details — including names and partially obscured identity card numbers — of individuals and corporate representatives who refuse to comply with court rulings.

The top court uses public exposure as a mechanism to compel compliance.

The top court has also worked with financial institutions and transportation authorities to restrict defaulters' daily activities, barring them from buying airline and high-speed rail tickets or purchasing luxury goods.

On Monday, Shao Changmao, deputy head of the SPC's enforcement department, said the number of people on the blacklist declined again last year, following an initial drop in 2024.

Shao described the trend as a "positive signal", adding that it shows that deploying judicial measures to enforce compliance and advance the social credit system is having an effect.

"Trustworthiness is the foundation of a market economy and a key element of social governance," he said, adding that Chinese courts remain resolute in combating dishonest behavior.

"Our efforts to severely punish those who defy court rulings will only intensify, not weaken," he said.

In a case released by the top court, a debtor surnamed Gu in Chongchuan, Jiangsu province, was convicted of refusing to comply with a court verdict and received criminal punishment after repeatedly violating consumption restrictions and concealing assets.

According to the Chongchuan District People's Court, Gu knowingly violated court-imposed restrictions by illegally purchasing airline and high-speed rail tickets.

He took 25 overseas trips to destinations including the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, frequented upscale massage parlors, and made large donations to game streamers, spending a total of 300,000 yuan ($43,120).

The court also found that Gu, despite knowing his bank account had been frozen, linked his father-in-law's and mother-in-law's bank cards to WeChat in order to carry out transactions. He made more than 100 transfers, each exceeding 10,000 yuan, the court said.

Highlighting the case, the top court stressed the need to crack down on attempts to evade court rulings.

"This is not only to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the winning party, but also to uphold the authority of the justice system," it said.

In 2025, courts nationwide held 4,461 people criminally accountable for refusing to comply with court rulings, reinforcing a firm stance against dishonest conduct, said Huang Wenjun, head of the SPC's enforcement department.

As new forms of assets emerge and virtual or cross-border assets are increasingly used to evade enforcement, Huang said Chinese courts are cooperating with more than 10 agencies — including the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the National Intellectual Property Administration and the Civil Aviation Administration of China — to efficiently locate judgment defaulters and their assets.

He added that a unified online platform was established in 2025 to upgrade the network investigation and control system, strengthening support for the timely detection of hidden or transferred assets and the lawful prosecution of crimes related to evading enforcement.