Dot-com generation to drive online economy: Nomura

BEIJING -- China's "pan-post-90s" generation, namely those born between 1985 and 1999, are driving the Internet economy, according to a report from Nomura Securities.

It is largely because they have the greatest propensity to consume, and they accounted for over 50 percent of the country's Internet users in the first half of last year, the report said.

While China's macro economy is slowing, the online economy offers a different side of the growth story. Nomura expects the growing tech-friendly dot-comer middle class to be a force for at least the next decade.

The strength of China's domestic consumption should outweigh the impact of macro weakness on the e-commerce industry and China's online travel agency market will more than triple its revenue over the next five years. Internet finance is also thriving despite heavy regulation, according to Nomura.

China's total Internet users reached 688 million at the end of 2015, accounting for 50.3 percent of the country's total population, said a report by the China Internet Network Information Center on Friday.