(Yicai Global) June 27 -- Residents born between 1990 and 2000 have become the largest group of tenants in Chinese cities, and most of them are prepared to marry without buying a house, differing from previous generations. 

Last year, some 75 percent of tenants in Chinese cities were born between 1990 and 2000, according to a report Xinhua News Agency and Tencent-backed rental platform Ziroom released yesterday. The pair used Big Data for the study, without disclosing the number of participants.

Over half of the tenants aged between 18 and 29 said they could accept marriage without a house. Having bought housing used to increase a person's marriage appeal in China. 

Some 60 percent of urban tenants had attained a bachelor's degree. Nearly 30 percent of all participants said they work in the internet and information technology sector, over 10 percent have a job in finance or securities, and one-tenth make a living in communication, education and real estate. Over 11 percent of the people had been living on rent for over five years.

The number of tenants increased the fastest in Hangzhou, the eastern home city of Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Financial Services Group. Growth in other second-tier cities, such as Nanjing, Chengdu and Tianjin, exceeded that of first-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Ziroom managed more than 850,000 apartments in many first- and second-tier cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and Chengdu, as of last December.

Editor: Emmi Laine