Residents borrow books from a book cabinet situated in the Gulou metro station in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn] 

Borrowing books via mobile phones has been gaining in popularity among residents of Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province in recent years.

In 2017, local authorities partnered with Zhima Credit of Ant Financial, Alibaba's financial arm, to launch "Tianyi Yueshu", an online book-lending service app.

Readers are able to borrow books on the platform without any deposit as long as their personal Zhima Credit score is high enough. The books will be delivered to their doorstep at a discounted delivery cost.

Official data shows that the platform, as of September of 2019, had accumulated 26,000 users, with more than 214,000 books being lent out.

Meanwhile, in a bid to make the service more user-friendly, the city has also constructed a number of book cabinets in public venues including libraries, metro stations and shopping malls across the city, enabling readers to return or pick up books directly after placing an order.

By the end of last year, more than 30 such book cabinets had been set up across Ningbo.