Hong Kong plans to roll out facial recognition technology on public CCTV cameras potentially by the end of this year. Police Commissioner Joe Chow Yat-ming said the effort will focus on high-traffic and strategic shopping centres. "The adaptability of our colleagues, the level of acceptance among the public and the legal framework – these are all areas we are working on," Chow explained in a TV interview. He hopes the system can be introduced soon but did not guarantee it would be this year. The police will inform the public before facial recognition is deployed. The technology will help identify suspects and missing persons by alerting officers to matches. The government seeks to invest HK$4 billion (US$511.6 million) to expand the SmartView project, aiming to add 6,500 cameras by 2031, reaching a total of 66,500. This includes AI video analytics and better infrastructure like fibre optic networks. "We have been in discussions with some shopping centre operators and received positive responses," Chow said, expecting connections to be made within 2024. He added that CCTV cameras in busy and strategically key shopping malls will be given priority. Chow also mentioned that despite geopolitical tensions, Hong Kong will continue international police cooperation. The upcoming Interpol top meeting in November will proceed, focusing on strengthening ties with Southeast Asian countries where absconders often flee. Regarding a recent robbery case involving Japanese police, Chow said, "Our cooperation with [Japanese police] has not been extensive. Perhaps they have a lot of investigative work to do, and it takes time for them to consider what they can offer."