"But some Chinese are unaware that it even exists. And many others actually like the idea. One survey found that 80% of Chinese citizens surveyed either somewhat or strongly approve of social credit system."
How many people actually like the idea and how many claim they do because they want to score points? The endgame is that the government can do whatever it wants and claim it is with "the support of the people"
Note that I'm not supporting the social credit system (or disapproving either), I'm just pointing out that I don't think, unlike other responders here, that this poll finding is automatically void just because it was done in China. How many Americans would have been polled as "somewhat or strongly approving" of the invasion of Iraq in 2003?
Most people are aware of the Chinese tourist stereotype. Perhaps they see this "social credit" system as a way of combating that behavior now that communities are much too global to provide the social pressure they once did.
That was not what the poster you're replying to was saying. Quite the opposite, actually. The other poster was describing a political sophistication that would make an 80% approval rating for a social credit system a rather amusing irony.