What life is like inside China's social credit laboratory — where people get points for being model citizens and lose points for misbehaving

Jason Lee/Reuters

• China is implementing a social credit system that awards and penalizes citizens for their behavior. 
• Three dozen pilot schemes are in currently place across China, with plans to make the scheme nationwide by 2020. 
• Citizens who are good neighbors, donate to charity and commit 'heroic' acts can boost their credit score. Conversely, those who break laws and regulations will lose points. 
• A citizen's social credit score comes with perks and penalties depending on the rating, and can influence their ability to take out loans loans or buy travel tickets.

Rongcheng was built for the future. Its broad streets and suburban communities were constructed with an eye to future expansion, as the city sprawls on the eastern tip of China's Shandong province overlooking the Yellow Sea. Colorful billboards depicting swans bank on the birds — one of the city's tourist attractions — returning there every winter to escape the Siberian cold.

In an attempt to ease bureaucracy, the city hall, a glass building that resembles a flying saucer, has been fashioned as a one-stop shop for most permits. Instead of driving from one office to another to get their paperwork in order, residents simply cross the gleaming corridors to talk to officials seated at desks in the open-space area.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: How Jay-Z and Diddy used their fame to make millions off of 'cheap grapes'

See Also:

• China has been kidnapping its expats from countries around the world — and it may be happening in the US
• Nobody knows anything about China — including the Chinese government
• 'Teflon Trudeau' is his own worst enemy

SEE ALSO: China is retaliating to Trump's massive tariffs by aiming directly at his supporters