'Smart' upgrade to make community life easier

Zhang Xueqing has been busy trying to teach her elderly parents how to use a new face-recognition gate mechanism at the entrance to their community in Chengdu.

The 32-year-old accountant says smart devices were installed last month, including a high-tech gate that "recognizes" residents.

"My family and I were surprised when these new products were set up, all of which can be controlled through one smartphone app," she says.

Zhang says young people will welcome the upgraded system, as it will make life more convenient. "But the elderly seem more reluctant," she adds. "My parents, both of whom are over 60, will need much more time to adapt."

Smart control systems are being fitted at residential communities across China. Yet most devices now on the market neither connect nor are compatible with other brands, which has affected sales, according to industry insiders.

To solve the issue, Ganide Co Ltd, a state-owned company in Chengdu, capital of Sichaun province, says it is developing end-to-end solutions for smart communities.

"There are a few suppliers of smart devices, but most can't meet the demand," says Liu Yeshao, a product manager at the company. "That's why business users need to talk with different vendors, and why individual consumers can't control devices using one operational platform."

Ganide provides a range of smart devices for indoor and outdoor use, and has designed an app for consumers to access the equipment.

A project manager for a Chengdu property developer, who asked not to be named, says his company is considering buying Ganide products for a new apartment complex in the city.

"First," he says, "it's a state-owned enterprise whose products performed stably in a project in which an old residential area underwent a smart redevelopment. Plus, it provides a range of smart devices at a relatively low price."

Since last year, Ganide has been providing smart community solutions for new projects and renovations of existing communities. For example, it tailored a plan for Anting New Town, a Vanke Co Ltd residential project in Shanghai, and last month worked on a smart salesroom for property developer Gemdale Group.

The company, a unit of China Electronics Technology Group Corp, says its products have also entered international markets such as Myanmar and Indonesia.

Ganide's output is forecast to hit 500 million yuan ($74.9 million; 66.9 million euros; 59 million) over the next three years, according to CEO Tong Wei.

The development of smart communities began to accelerate last year when the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development proposed in a guideline that more than 50 percent of communities should be constructed in a smart way by 2020. The guideline defined a smart community as leveraging information technology to integrate resources to better serve the residents and enable economic and environmental sustainability.

Since then, the growing urban population has attracted companies in various industries to the market.

China's urbanization rate was 56 percent last year, up 2 percent on 2014, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.

To seize the opportunities being created, tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has sped up its research on the internet of things (a network of devices, vehicles or buildings containing software that allows them to connect) to enable the construction of more smart communities.

jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn