Using the online platform, every ward will generate a gross order that gets forwarded to the prison, which will place the orders for all wards as a whole to the e-commerce platform.

"At first, I couldn't operate the platform, so I just avoided using it," said a 52-year-old prisoner surnamed Zhang who had never shopped online before. "However, with the help of the police and other prisoners, gradually I got familiar with it. This will help me better adapt to society later on, after I get out of prison."