Demand for online working, education services booms

Remote working and online education platforms are experiencing a boom these days as millions of housebound users take part in digital meetings and courses.

Alibaba's online enterprise service platform Dingding says more than 200 million users are now working remotely since most cities advised employees to avoid gathering at office buildings. 

Meanwhile, Dingding's online education program covers more than 12 million students in over 20,000 middle and elementary schools nationwide.

Yuan Fudao, which is offering free courses for elementary and middle school students, said daily visitors surpassed 5 million on Monday and Tuesday.

Tencent's Enterprise WeChat said more than 1 million companies are using remote working functions every day and it has fixed a recent network error caused by heavy traffic.

Major Internet firms have also advised employees to work from home until further notice.

On Monday, more than 10 million companies were using Dingding's remote meeting module at around 9am, a record number for the platform as engineers worked to ensure its smooth operation.

Tencent says its online meeting function will remain free of charge until March 1 and supports groups with a maximum of 300 members. It has also upgraded functions such as emergency notifications for medical institutions. 

It advises users to avoid peak online meeting hours from 9am to 10am and from 2pm to 3pm.