A bank has caused a furore by placing two half-page announcements in a Guangzhou newspaper listing the personal details of 535 college graduates who owe it money.
In the Thursday announcement in the Yangcheng Evening News, the Guangdong branch of the Agricultural Bank of China said the former students - from 22 universities and colleges in the province - had failed to repay their national education loans nearly a year after the deadline passed, and had not contacted the bank after graduating.
Outraged students vented their anger in big website chat rooms, saying the release of the personal information, including the debtors' names, identification card numbers, university and amount owed, infringed on their privacy.
The education loan system was introduced in 1999 to help support students from poor families. Commercial banks, subsidised by Beijing, extend loans at discount rates.
Mainland media have reported in recent years that banks have had a tough time tracking down students who owed money but had moved to other places after graduating without contacting the banks.
'The amount is not great, with most students owing between 1,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan,' a manager in the bank's retail department said.
'Our purpose is to make the students pay attention to their credit records. Bad records will influence their whole life, as we are setting up a credit system with each borrower's information.'