Facial recognition tech catches fugitive in huge crowd at Jacky Cheung Cantopop concert in China

Police have arrested a fugitive in southeast China after facial recognition technology helped identify him in a crowd of about 50,000 people attending a pop concert, a news website reported.

The wanted man was detained while attending a show by the Hong Kong pop star Jacky Cheung last week in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, Kankan News reported.

China is viewed as the world leader in adopting facial recognition technology for various uses, including law enforcement. 

The initiatives include the creation of the world’s most powerful facial recognition system by law enforcement agencies. The project, launched by the Ministry of Public Security in 2015, was under development in conjunction with a security company based in Shanghai, three people familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post in October.

The 31-year-old man detained last week, who is wanted for unspecified economic crimes, was said to be in shock when police took him away, according to the report.

He had driven 90km (56 miles) from Zhangshu to Nanchang just to see the concert with his wife, the report said.