Real-life Black Mirror: China's moves to introduce scorecards that ranks the behaviour of citizens

It sounds eerily similar to the plot of an episode of Charlie Brooker's popular dystopian science fiction series Black Mirror. But China's controversial social credit system – in which all of its 1.4 billion citizens are'ranked' on their behaviour in real-time – is on track to launch by 2020. Completing community service and buying Chinese products is thought to improve your social standing, which is given as a score out of 800. Those rated'top citizens' get VIP treatment at airports, discounted loans, waived deposits on hotel and car rentals and fast-tracking to elite universities. Fraud, tax evasion and smoking in non-smoking areas can drop your ranking, as well as buying items in supermarkets that the government doesn't approve of - such as alcohol or video games.