"The millennials are a very different generation. They were born and bred at a time when China's economy and wealth were growing rapidly, so most have no memory of the hunger and instability experienced by their parents," said Zhang Lifen, a journalism professor at Shanghai's Fudan University and former editor-in-chief at FTChinese.com, at a meeting at the World Economic Forum, which began Sunday.

 前FT中文网总编辑、复旦大学新闻学院教授张力奋说：“千禧一代是一个特殊的群体，他们出生和生长在中国经济和财富快速发展的时期，没有经历一个物质极其贫乏的年代，没有饥饿感。”

“千禧一代”（millennials）指20世纪90年代初期出生，21世纪初期进入成人期的一代。这一词汇源于1991年威廉·施特劳斯和尼尔·豪出版的《Generations》一书，陈述了他们的社会时代阶层理论，后被称为“施特劳斯-豪代际理论”。