On October 18, in Hangzhou, China, a press briefing on the “Global QR Code Migration (GM2D)” was jointly held by the Standard Innovation Management Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation and the China Article Numbering Center. During the event, insights were shared about China’s initiative to transition product barcodes from one-dimensional formats to QR codes, aiming to facilitate the establishment of a unified national market.

As the scale of China’s import and export trade continues to expand steadily, product barcodes have become widely utilized across hundreds of millions of goods in the country. These barcodes play an essential role in enhancing China’s foreign trade exports, improving product circulation, elevating quality, boosting livelihoods, and transforming retail models.

Li Yubing, Deputy Director of the Standard Innovation Management Department, emphasized that advancing the GM2D initiative and transitioning product barcodes to QR codes is a fundamental requirement for developing a unified national market. He noted that this shift would help eliminate data silos in trade. With an international standard for QR codes, product data can become more comprehensive, accurate, and traceable. This will enable seamless connections of global product data across various fields and platforms, providing consumers with quick and thorough access to product information and offering technical support for the resilience and security of supply chains.

Moreover, through the digital transformation and upgrades associated with GM2D, businesses can enhance their capabilities in production management, logistics management, and expiration date management. This, in turn, will improve storage and turnover efficiency of goods, ultimately increasing product circulation efficiency and reducing operational costs.

Currently, the total volume of product data collected based on unified coding standards has surpassed 200 million items, covering over 90% of key products. This data serves the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, and more than 50 local government departments. By leveraging QR code technology for innovative regulatory approaches, government and regulatory bodies can monitor every stage of product production, circulation, and sales — enabling timely detection and handling of counterfeit goods and expired products, safeguarding consumer rights, and maintaining market order.