Authorities in a single district of the southwestern megacity of Chongqing have installed 27,900 surveillance cameras and 245 sensors as part of a comprehensive “grid” surveillance plan to keep tabs on residents, officials from the district said Monday. The move offers a rare glimpse into the running of China’s “grid” system -- the close-up monitoring of every aspect of its citizens' lives to mediate disputes, influence public opinion and minimize protests and dissent.
“We in Beibei district have fully pressed the fast-forward button to promote the construction of ... a digital Chongqing [and] deepened networked governance ... to build a smart grassroots governance system,” Lin Xuyang, delegate to the National People’s Congress and secretary of Chongqing’s Beibei District Committee, told delegates in Beijing on March 10.The annual gathering of delegates from across the country ends Tuesday.
