Debtors who refuse to pay up have been banned from spending by the Intermediate People's Court in Changsha.
According to the Legal Daily, the court announced in January that 73 of the city's enterprises and individual debtors had to repay debts before they were allowed to spend on unnecessary consumer goods.
Spending at luxury restaurants and shopping centres, as well as extravagant forms of entertainment, were banned.
Debtors also faced severe restrictions on transportation, telecommunications equipment and housing expenditure. The provincial Government set a minimum living standard allowance for the debtors.
All had been previously ordered by the court to repay debts, but had refused to comply.
Instead, many continued to spend money as if they did not owe anything, said the paper.
Under the new ruling, they would be treated as if they had committed a crime. They would be detained and fined if they went against the court's order and were found spending money.