Visiting Hikvision in China

Security journalists from around the world were guests of Hikvision at its world headquarters in Hangzhou, China, in October. Shown here, the two 22-story towers linked by a four-story mezzanine provide 68,000 square meters of floor space. Yet, a newer facility directly across the street is under construction and will provide 250,000 square meters of floor space. It is expected to be completed by 2018.

More than 300,000 industry professionals from 150 countries were expected to attend the 2015 CPSE in Shenzhen between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1. Here, people outside of the convention center distribute professional marketing literature to attendees on day one of the show.

Following the visit to CPSE the journalists were transported to Hong Kong, where they could choose to end their time in China or stay on as a tourist. Shown here is the Night Market in Kowloon, Hong Kong — a peculiar potpourri of stalls offering merchandise, fortune-telling, and entertainment from local musicians.

Hikvision held a special media session at company headquarters. Hikvision President Yangzhong Hu (seated, left) and Keen Yao (seated right), Hikvision’s international marketing director, answered journalists’ most frequently asked questions. The session was moderated and sometimes translated by Tony Yang (standing), general sales manager of Hikvision Latin America.

As Hikvision’s guests, the journalists attended “Romance of the Song Dynasty,” a spectacular performance featuring impressive period costumes, music, dancing and acrobatics, extraordinary lighting including a scene that made the actors look like they were underwater, and even a real waterfall on stage. Each scene depicted a different aspect of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Hikvisionâs world headquarters in Hangzhou, China — At Hikvision’s world headquarters in Hangzhou, China, an expansive showroom offers displays for visitors that demonstrate the company’s history; its advancement through evolving technologies; all of its security products including both analog and IP, professional and consumer; and its solutions for vertical segments of safe cities, transportation, entertainment venues, education, commercial, retail, banking/financial, healthcare, and residential. Shown along the walls of this long space are the vertical market solutions.

Hikvision treated the journalists to an evening boat tour of tranquil West Lake, near the company’s headquarters. West Lake is a source of inspiration for songs, poems and paintings. It is also a source of many legends including its most famous, The Legend of the White Snake.

A popular stand at the China Public Security Expo (CPSE), more than 50,000 attendees come to visit Hikvision during the show, according to the company.

In late October, Hikvision hosted nearly 30 professional journalists who cover the security industry around the world at its global headquarters in Hangzhou, China. The purpose of the visit was for the editors to get to know the company and people who stand behind the moniker of “world’s largest supplier of video surveillance products and solutions.” Hikvision provided a well-balanced itinerary of business, culture and history for the week-long editors’ junket.

The heart of the business agenda was a media presentation given by Yangzhong Hu, president of Hikvision; Keen Yao, international marketing director of Hikvision; and Cynthia Ho, vice president of Hikvision for international business. The executives discussed some of the key decisions that have led to the company’s growth and success; Hikvision’s regional business strategy; mergers and acquisitions in the industry; the company’s channel strategy; and cybersecurity, among other topics.

“We are extremely, extremely lucky,” says Yangzhong Hu, referring to the migration of technology in the video surveillance industry and Hikvision’s ability to hit on the right technology trends. The most important trend, he believes, is content analysis. “With that technology alone, Hikvision will have been invested in development since 2006,” he says.

Hikvision’s tag line is “Global approach with local touch.” The company has 18 regional subsidiaries including Hikvision USA, located in City of Industry, Calif. “The company’s management style is decentralization, meaning that all the decision-making will be coming down to the local team, from the people closest to the market,” says Keen Yao.

Hikvision was founded in 2001 with 29 people as an outgrowth of a research institute. Today the company employs approximately 14,500 people around the world including 5,400 engineers. It has had a 53 percent compound average growth rate from 2009 to 2014. Crucial to its growth, Hikvision divulges that more than 8 percent of its annual revenue is invested in research and development.

The executives said that on a daily basis, the company can produce more than 160,000 cameras and 28,000 back-end products.

More information about the editors’ trip to Hikvision in China is at www.SDMmag.com/hikvision-china-junket.

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Laura Stepanek is a SDM contributing writer. Laura was the Editor of SDM from 2001-2020 and first joined the publication in 1984. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Barat College of DePaul University.