The AI-powered cameras will speed up security checks in metro, an official said

CCTV monitors will be installed in stations in Beijing to scan commuters' faces

'Abnormal' individuals will need to go through extra searches, according to plan

The technology is already in use at some of the subway stations in Guangzhou

China will have 626 million street cameras for surveillance as early as next year

China has announced its plan to use facial-recognition cameras to keep track of subway passengers.

Metro stations in Beijing will soon use the AI-powered facilities for security checks, according to an official from the capital city.

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The news came as the country's ruling Communist Party is on track to launch a Big-Brother-style mass surveillance system next year, which is set to have more than 600 million CCTV street cameras.

Commuters pass through metal detectors and x-ray machines at a security checkpoint inside a subway station in Beijing. The city will use facial-recognition cameras for the procedure soon

China is currently building the world's largest surveillance system that aims to recognise any of its 1.4 billion citizens within three seconds. The state-led network is set to complete in 2020

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The subway monitoring scheme is designed to speed up security scans in the city's overcrowded metro, announced Zhan Minghui, director of the Beijing Rail Traffic Control Center.

Speaking at a transport forum this week, Mr Zhan said that the city's authority were due to use a 'credit system' to classify commuters, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

The city plans to install cameras that will screen the faces of passengers as they enter a subway station and sort them into different security channels, according to Mr Zhan.

China is on track to have one CCTV camera for nearly every two people as the Communist Party pushes for Big-Brother-style state surveillance. The country's 1.4 billion population will be carefully watched by 626 million street monitors as early as next year, according to a study

The plan involves creating a 'passenger credit system'. Individuals on a 'white list' will enjoy expedited security clearance.

Those who receive 'abnormal feedback' after their faces are scanned will be subjected to extra checks.

Mr Zhan did not offer details on the criteria used to sort passengers, or what could trigger that type of feedback.

'The technique aims to improve the efficiency of security checks and includes both body checks and luggage screening when large numbers of passengers enter the station,' he told the forum on Tuesday.

Guangzhou and Shenzhen have already adopted facial-recognition security measures

Beijing's 23 subway lines currently handle over 12 million trips on a weekday and the number is expected to increase to 17 million trips by 2022.

The busy network includes 394 stations and 678 kilometres (421 miles) of tracks. The latter is roughly twice the distance between London and Paris.

Mr Zhan did not give a timetable for rolling out the technology.

Several other Chinese cities have already adopted facial-recognition technology in subway.

Commuters in Guangzhou can now gain speedy passage through the security checkpoints after registering their information and pictures on an official app.

The city adopted the technology last month.

China is currently building the world's largest surveillance system, which aims to recognise any of its 1.4 billion citizens within three seconds.

The security network, set to be finished next year, will be equipped with 626 million street monitors, or one camera for nearly every two people, according to a study.

The network consists of the 'Sky Net Project' and the 'Sharp Eye Project' and is part of the nation's 13th five-year plan.

China's AI-powered surveillance network also supports the nation's social credit system

Critics, however, have voiced concerns over the system, claiming it is a way for the government to invade citizens' privacy and restrict their freedom.

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Many have also compared it to a dystopian system run by a fictional state leader, Big Brother, in English author George Orwell's novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'.

China's surveillance network also supports the nation's social credit system, which rates its citizens based on their daily activities.

Experts say the system, combined with face-recognition technology, is a way for the authority to control citizens' behaviour.

'State-led face recognition efforts also tie into the country's social credit system, so passengers who misbehave would be subject to additional searches and screenings,' said privacy expert Paul Bischoff in reference to Beijing's subway monitoring plan.

'Because the social credit rating is affected by many activities outside of the subway, actions that people take in their daily life can limit how they can travel,' added Mr Bischoff who penned a report about the world's most-monitored cities this year.

The world's five most-monitored cities are Chongqing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Tianjin and Ji'nan

Once complete next year, China's social credit system could determine how easy a citizen could rent a flat, buy travel tickets or pay for a cup of tea.

The system will help the country restore morality, according to China's state-run newspaper Global Times.

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Latest statistics show the Chinese social credit system blocked what it called 'discredited entities' from taking 2.56 million flights and 90,000 high-speed train journeys in July alone.