Overseas security to get upgrade

Private firms will boost staff, intelligence and tools to better protect Chinese interests abroad

China will beef up its private security services overseas to protect life and property, with stronger manpower, better equipment and intelligence, and more effective operations, industry analysts and insiders said on Thursday.

The country now has about 3,200 security professionals protecting Chinese companies overseas. That is far fewer than major global security service providers such as US-based Blackwater Worldwide, which has more than 23,500 employees around the world and has trained over 100,000 professionals, data from the China Overseas Security and Defense Research Center in Beijing show.