Scan to read: Government Work Report becomes mobile friendly

2017-03-05
chinadaily.com.cn

A reporter scans the QR code on the Government Work Report’s first page in Beijing on March 5, 2017.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Delegates and reporters who gathered in Beijing’s Great Hall of The People on March 5 would feel blissful if they took their smartphones with them.

Rather than flipping through the toughly 40-page-long Government Work Report, most of them scanned a QR code on the report’s first page to save themselves the trouble of burying their heads into the lengthy file.

For the first time in the decades-long history of the National People’s Congress, or China’s top legislative body that is convening in the capital city for its annual session, the Government Work Report has printed a QR code on its Chinese-version handouts to delegates and journalists.

While Premier Li Keqiang was delivering the report on March 5 morning, delegates and journalists could access a more lively mobile-version of the report after scanning the QR code. Smartphone-adaptable animations and infographics make the report teeming with numbers easier to understand.

In an effort to embrace the digital age when people tend to spend more time reading on their smartphones, the report’s mobile version added an animated process that turned gray skies into blue when the report addressed air pollution.

This year’s mobile-friendly move echoed the Premier’s pledge in the report to build a strong internet industry.

Acknowledging that “in the age of the internet, faster and more cost-effective information networks are crucial to the development of every sector”, the report also announced an end to the years-long practice of charging for domestic roaming and long-distance calls.