Parallel traders, beware: new facial recognition system installed at Hong Kong-Shenzhen border
Technology will also help to speed up customs checks on border that sees 640,000 crossings every day, authorities say
Chinese authorities have introduced a new system to crack down on “parallel traders” at two border checkpoints between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, in a move that marks the beginning of facial recognition technology being used on the large-scale at the mainland’s border checkpoints with the city.
Parallel traders refers to people who buy tax-free goods in the former British colony and then resell them in the mainland.
According to a message posted by the General Administration of Customs on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, the new system in place at the Shenzhen Bay and Lo Wu checkpoints will also speed up the processing time for people travelling between the two cities.
“Passengers shuttling between Shenzhen and Hong Kong can now just walk through the gates after their travel documents have been verified, as the new facial recognition system will automatically capture their faces,” the message said.
Everyone who passes through the checkpoint is then checked against a database of faces and travel information, and if there is a suspicion they are a parallel trader the system will send an alert to the customs officials, the statement said.
