Residents of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province entered their names, IDs and cell phone numbers on the city government's public service platform on Friday afternoon.

A lucky draw hosted by www.ixm.gov.cn on Saturday will decide who can buy masks in certain stores in the city.

"The process of entering one's information on the platform is as easy as buying a pair of shoes online," said a man surnamed Xie.

But he did not realize his city was the first Chinese city to sell masks through a lucky draw.
It is very difficult to get masks in many parts of the country in the aftermath of the outbreak of the novel corolavirus.

To handle the problem, the platform in Xiamen opened at 2 pm on Friday to its residents as well as those who have lived in the city and contributed to the local social security fund.

Winners of the lucky draw will receive text messages on their cell phones. With the messages and their identification cards, they can buy masks in certain stores in the city.

Those who fail to win the lucky draw on Saturday do not need to re-enter their information on the platform.

Instead, they would automatically participate in the upcoming lucky draw once masks are available, according to an announcement from the local government.