I got rejected just last week for something pretty inexpensive that I can afford to pay off in installments. My credit score is good and I've never defaulted on any payments before. I live in the UK, not in China.
AFAIK the social credit system that westerners like to mock was only trialled and never implemented. I, on the other hand, have actually been screwed over by my own country's credit score system.
Incorrect, the Social Credit System started in 2014 and was supposed to be operating at full scale in 2020 but they keep missing deadlines. It is in use, has been for a decade, just not as much as the CCP wanted it to be.