China's police authority is to gradually extend the installation of surveillance cameras in rural communities to provide better public security.

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said in a statement on its website Monday that police had installed more than 2.75 million cameras in public areas across the country, most them in urban areas.

More than 268,000 surveillance and alarm systems had been installed in public areas to enable the police to fight crime around the clock, it said.

The MPS asked local police authorities to introduce more surveillance cameras in rural communities.

The surveillance systems would be linked to police stations, community police service posts and farmer security guards in rural areas to establish a comprehensive security network, the statement said.

The statement said the installation of cameras should respect the wishes of the residents and police authorities should promote simple and cost-effective facilities.

Surveillance monitors in public domains such as roads, banks, stores and hospitals are increasingly common in China. Bejing, for example, has more than 265,000 monitors.

The MPS statement said the number of monitors installed in the last six years exceeded the total of the previous two decades, without giving details of the numbers.

Concerns over privacy protection are occasionally heard in China, but so far the government has not established a law or regulation on the issue.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2009)