(Photo/Zhu Liurong)

Data released by China’s leading online shopping platform Taobao on China's “lazy economy” revealed that Chinese people have spent 16 billion yuan (about $2.3 billion) on consumption needs generated by “laziness” this year, with those born after 1995 leading the growth, Workers’ Daily reported on Dec. 19.

As shown by the data, the “lazy economy” has been consistently developing in China throughout 2018, with a year-on-year increase of 70 percent regarding the money spent by Chinese people on services and products that help save time and effort, while the post-95s have seen a growth of 82 percent when compared with the previous year.

People living in China’s coastal areas spent the most money on their “lazy needs” according to the statistics, which also indicate that people from south China’s Guangdong Province topped the list when it comes to expenditures on “lazy consumption”, while people in the northeast and northwest regions spent less than the national average.

A Chinese woman surnamed Xu is somebody who enjoys the “lazy” lifestyle. Although she passes the vegetable market on her way home, she prefers to buy vegetables online and have them delivered to her home right about the time she arrives back from work.

Xu listens to an audiobook while on the subway, while ordering a massage service, delivered directly to her door after dinner.

In recent years, with the support of online to offline (O2O) business platforms, this type of lifestyle is becoming more and more common in China. Driven by various “lazy needs”, new platforms and new products have been continuously created to meet the growing market demand.

Not long ago, a restaurant in Huangpu District of east China’s Shanghai launched a “shelling service” to clients. It hired two beautiful young women to shell crayfish for customers who didn't want to do the work. Such methods have turned into a win-win mode for both customers and creators.

With the weather getting colder and colder in winter, online lunch orders start to soar with many food ordering services in China.

“It’s too cold outside, and we would be frozen if we go out for lunch. A lunch delivered to the office can help save time and make it possible to finish work in advance, and also, it’s convenient,” said a woman surnamed Guo who works in a financial consulting agency, disclosing that booking lunch online is now the unanimous choice among her colleagues.

Besides the boom in the food industry, the “lazy economy” has also helped create various new jobs, including tidying wardrobes, cooking food for family feasts, and providing physical therapy at home. Moreover, a variety of smart home products and convenient creations have also seen significant growth in sales figures online.

The so-called “lazy people” behind the “lazy economy” are probably diligent “lazy people” who have specialties and a good income, and prefer to focus their energy on work and make full use of their spare time, explained Guo, who added that these “lazy needs” would boost the social division of labor and help create new modes of economic growth.

Guo’s opinion was supported by the research of many market research institutes including Chinese consulting company iReaserch and Analysys International, which have predicted that China’s O2O market size is likely to surpass 600 billion yuan this year.