South China Morning Post revealed on May 16, 2017, that the Police in Xinjiang had confirmed they are in the process of purchasing at least US$8.7 million in equipment to analyse DNA samples. Observers from Human Rights Watch said they had seen evidence of almost US$3 million worth of additional purchases related to DNA testing. The move comes after Chinese authorities last year reportedly required Xinjiang residents to submit DNA samples, fingerprints and voice records to obtain passports or travel abroad. If used at full capacity, the new equipment could be used to profile up to 10,000 DNA samples a day and several million a year, said Yves Moreau, a computational biologist specialising in genome analysis and DNA privacy at the University of Leuven in Belgium. Since it started collecting DNA profiles in 1989, China has amassed the unique genetic information on more than 40 million people, constituting the world’s largest DNA database, according to a study last year by forensic researchers at the China Ministry of Public Security.