Professionals call for new, wider-ranging measures

Despite the initial success of the debtors' blacklist, legal professionals have warned that it's too early to say if the system will prevail.

At present, most of the restrictions target individuals, not corporate debtors. "It's hard to control or limit businesses if they refuse to comply with verdicts," said Lin Xiao, a deputy judge in the enforcement department at Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court.

Although he favors the restrictions as indirect economic pressures that can persuade defaulters to clear their debts, he said that the measures are far from sufficient.