Dahua has won a deal directly with a China city. While its population is small, the deal is big at ~$9 million USD covering 1,900 cameras and a wide area of advanced analytics and functionalities.
In this note, we examine the details of the deal, look at what is being deployed, how much Dahua is likely to make, and how this compares to US city surveillance projects.
Any word on what the motivating factor of Jiexiu surveillance expansion might be? Perhaps this is a pilot for something greater coming to Shanxi province or is crime and traffic accidents so prevalent that they require such a significant investment in video analytics?
Good question. China "Safe City"/"Smart Police" projects are common all across China, mainly as a result of government directives for local cities, towns, municipalities, etc. to help the country reach "100%" surveillance coverage. To learn more about China's top-down directives for expanding surveillance across the board, feel free to check out IPVM's public video surveillance guide and this recent report on Nanchang's surveillance project, in Jiangxi province. From IPVM's review of the documents associated with this specific project, there was no direct mention of Sharp Eyes, but from recent China news reports, it is clear that the government is continuing to push localities to implement wide-scale surveillance systems. This is particularly relevant now because the government's goal to reach total coverage is the end of 2020. Jiexiu is likely adhering to these directives.
This level of surveillance is likely "normal" in China and is not special to Jiexiu or Shanxi province. However, Jiexiu was an interesting case study to bring up because of Dahua's involvement in selling direct to the city and observations that some products are being sold at close to US retail price. Also, Jiexiu is a small city yet is spending a significant amount of money on this system, which is telling of how much money exists to be made as China attempts to expand to "100%" surveillance coverage.
Also, Jiexiu is a small city yet is spending a significant amount of money on this system, which is telling of how much money exists to be made as China attempts to expand to "100%" surveillance coverage.
I'm curious if the PRC funds any of these city-based surveillance initiatives - or if the cities themselves are the ones footing the entire bill?
It looks like cities, towns, and other localities in general tend to be the ones in charge of figuring out which systems should be bought for their cities. There's very little direction from the central government for specific baseline features or cameras that surveillance systems are expected to have.
However, the central government surely hands down subsidies. Xiamen in Fujian province reportedly received 23 million RMB (~$3.5 million USD) for being a surveillance "model city". China Digital Times also says the central government spent 3.1 billion RMB ($460 million USD) between 2015- end of 2017 on Sharp Eyes. So, the central government has definitely provided some of the funds, but not enough to cover all projects.
This recent report from ChinaFile (a publication run by the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society) is a good resource for understanding how the government budgets for video surveillance in China.
I swear there is a person inside that A.I. camera:
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Comments (5)
Igor Keel
Any word on what the motivating factor of Jiexiu surveillance expansion might be? Perhaps this is a pilot for something greater coming to Shanxi province or is crime and traffic accidents so prevalent that they require such a significant investment in video analytics?
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Undisclosed #2
I swear there is a person inside that A.I. camera:
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