Since 2005, the Chinese government has been implementing a national program. It requires cities across the country to reform public security infrastructure, and embrace the state-of-the-art technologies. This has turned China into one of the safest places in the world. Yang Zhao has the details.

Believe it or not, we are now more surveilled than ever. Video cameras dot nearly every junction in Chinese cities and authorities can easily glean information.

In the northern city of Shenyang, a facial recognition system which can scan thirty passengers per second was installed in a subway station last May. Within 27 hours, two fugitives were singled out and arrested.

AND can you believe the man in the striped T-shirt is a murder? After committing the crime, he fled to another city thousands of kilometers away and was at large for 10 years. He had a new job, new ID and new life -- until a machine recognized him.

Facial recognition is THE new hot tech in China. Banks, airports, hotels and even public toilets are all trying to verify identities through facial analysis. Gigabytes of video evidence gathered nationwide are used to track suspects, spot suspicious behaviors, and even predict crime.

Of course, some analyses are still done by humans, until new technology like deep learning and artificial intelligence matures. Implementing such tech is part of ambitious plans by the Chinese government -- dubbed "Safe City" and "Sharp Eyes". Part of the name is inspired by a famous slogan from the Mao era -- "the masses have sharp eyes". These plans are for China to defend itself from internal threats such as crime, terror attacks, as well as man-made or natural disasters.

China is not alone in experimenting with the cutting-edge technologies. With a whopping 62 million surveillance cameras in 2016, the US actually has a higher per capita penetration rate than China. Meanwhile, a 2013 report shows 6 million cameras were watching the United Kingdom.