A new report out this week from UK-based IMS Research predicts that the market for video surveillance equipment in China will see huge gains over the next several years, eventually reaching over $3 billion by 2012.

According to analysts, due to the ongoing global financial crisis and the aftermath of the 2008 Olympic Games and the earthquake that rocked the country’s Sichuan province in August, the Chinese government has passed its own version of a stimulus package that invests in new housing, road, railway, and airport projects, which will undoubtedly require video surveillance equipment. In addition, the research firm predicts that in 2012, nearly 16 million security cameras will be sold in China either for new surveillance systems or as replacements in legacy systems.

“The Chinese video surveillance market experienced a much slower growth rate in 2008 than the previous years. This is due to the influence of the global financial crisis and some big events that happened in China in 2008, such as the Beijing Olympic Games and the earthquake in south-western China. To confront the challenge from financial crisis, the Chinese central government has taken a series of actions to increase domestic demand to stimulate economic growth,” Market Analyst Bo Zhang said in a prepared statement. “Consequently, 2009 and 2010 are forecast to be very strong years for the Chinese video surveillance market.”