A resident of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, shows his green health code, which means he is allowed to travel freely in the city. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Editor's note: Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in January, Zhejiang province has been making vigorous efforts to fight it. This special series will take a close look at the measures the province has taken during the epidemic.

Zhejiang province has made full use of digital technologies during the epidemic by launching a "one map, one code, one index" system, the first of its kind in China, to strengthen epidemic control.

"One map" refers to a map of the epidemic situation in the province. Zhejiang began to assess the risks of the novel coronavirus infection in all its counties and districts and then unveiled a list of regions with different risk levels.

"One code" refers to a health QR code, which Hangzhou launched on Feb 11 to curb the spread of the virus as companies resume production. Zhejiang began promoting a unified health QR code system throughout the province on Feb 16.

The code was developed by Ant Financial, the financial arm of Hangzhou-based Alibaba Group, to help streamline the process of registering, reporting and monitoring people's health conditions.

"By identifying the infection risk of each person, the code enables most risk-free people to travel freely," said Qi Tongjun, director of the data protection department of the Hangzhou Big Data Bureau.

A sketch of Qi Tongjun, director of the data protection department of the Hangzhou Big Data Bureau [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

"One index" refers to an index for precise and intelligent epidemic control.

Zhejiang also launched a similar index and map to measure the work resumption rate throughout the province to ensure that companies resume operations in an orderly and safe manner.

"It's no wonder that the system was created by Zhejiang, as the province has a strong digital industrial foundation and promotes digital governance," said Wang Jian, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

As one of China's first provinces to establish a national digital economy innovation development zone, Zhejiang has long been focused on the development of big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital technologies to boost the economy and improve social governance, such as launching the intelligent urban management system "City Brain" to improve urban governance, and implementing the "At Most One Visit" reform to handle administrative affairs online and streamline administrative procedures.