WeChat programs see spike in visits during epidemic: report

Mini programs have seen heavy traffic on popular social media tool WeChat amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, according to a report.

WeChat's mini-programs attracted a lot more users to observe the virus situation, order fruits and vegetables and do office work, according to the report released by WeChat.

"I basically buy everything on WeChat," said Wang Xia, a resident in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province. "I ordered vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, oil and instant food."

By Feb. 14, supermarkets' mini-programs saw clicks up 115 percent year on year, while those of meat, fruits and vegetables rose 168 percent year on year.

"I also bought masks on WeChat," Wang said.

On Jan. 31, Guangzhou launched mask pre-ordering on the application. By Sunday, it had attracted more than 640 million hits.

Other epidemic-related programs also saw big traffic, including rumor-countering, updates on the epidemic, government supervision, online working and medical services.

"We will continue to track the developments of the epidemic," said WeChat worker Liu Ye.

WeChat saw more than 1.15 billion monthly active accounts in 2019, increasing by 6 percent from the same period in 2018.