China's credit database grows by 40 mln people to become world's largest

BEIJING, March 16 (Chinese media) -- China's credit database

had records for 640 million people at the end of 2008, up 40 million from a year

earlier, Su Ning, vice governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC, the central

bank) said Monday.

The database also covered 14.47 million companies, up about

1.4 million from a year earlier.

The PBOC established the database at the end of 2004

to help commercial banks reduce their loan risks. The database, according to the

PBOC, 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.