QR codes have helped bring new vitality to the Chinese economy, as they not only make connections and transactions easier, but also make technology more accessible to ordinary people.

(Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese people can scan QR codes to take the bus, eliminating the need for small change. They can also scan QR codes to obtain information on the entire process from production and processing to transportation of goods such as peanut oil and mineral water.

Nowadays, QR codes are widely used in many fields across the country, such as mobile payment, document management, electronic ticketing and production management, food traceability, logistics tracking and catering services.

QR codes meet the needs of the digital age, and their role in driving the economy cannot be underestimated.

According to a Tencent report, in 2019, the size of the economy connected to QR codes brought by Wechat, a social media platform, reached 8.6 trillion yuan (about $1.2 trillion), and the economy related to QR codes driven by Wechat has created 26 million jobs.

Zhang Chao, director of the Zhongguancun Industry & Information Research Institute of Two-dimensional Code Technology, said that China has become the country with the most widely used QR codes, accounting for more than 90 percent of the world's QR code applications.

As a connection between the real world and the virtual world in the digital economy, QR codes serve as a key entry point to online and offline integration, making commercial connection more affordable and value-added channels smoother, according to Wu Jing, a researcher at the Institute of Science and Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.