Chinese Internet giants launch booking services for COVID-19 testing

HANGZHOU -- Chinese Internet giants Alibaba Group, JD.com, and Tencent have launched booking services for COVID-19 tests, the companies said.

Ali Health, Alibaba's health care subsidiary, has offered testing appointments in 10 cities, including Shanghai and Beijing starting from April 21. It will extend the service in 28 more cities this week.

Users searching for "coronavirus nucleic acid test" in Taobao, Alibaba's main e-commerce site, will be directed to a page offering booking services.

JD Health, JD.com's health care subsidiary, and WeChat, Tencent's social media platform, also launched similar booking platforms for COVID-19 tests in Beijing, Guangzhou, and other cities.

The services have been launched as China accelerates COVID-19 nucleic acid testing to promote epidemic prevention and control and speed up the resumption of production.