China seeks help of national tech giants to track coronavirus with QR codes

Users with a red code are instructed to remain quarantined for 14 days and provide regular check-ins via DingTalk, a workplace chat app also run by Alibaba. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: China's government is enlisting the help of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd to expand colour-based systems for tracking individuals affected with the coronavirus nationwide.

On Feb 12, Alipay, the payment app operated by Alibaba's financial division Ant Financial, released a feature in collaboration with the government that assigns a coloured QR code representing the health of residents in Hangzhou.