Small-town youth expected to become big e-commerce growth driver

As e-commerce development in China's first-and second-tier cities nears a plateau, young people in the nation's smaller cities and towns are shaping up to be the next impetus driving growth.

This is one of the findings in McKinsey's latest survey depicting the latest digital trends in China, where a large pool of younger consumers in China's lower-tier cities and townships are poised to be the next driver of growth.

"Living costs are lower in these cities, allowing them to enjoy a much more relaxed lifestyle than consumers in larger cities," said Wang Wei, a senior partner at McKinsey based in Hong Kong. "They have a lot of time on their hands as they spend a lot less time commuting to and from work than their counterparts in larger cities."