(Photo/Chinanews.com)

Ready-to-cook food has become a new choice for China's younger generations, especially those in eastern regions, for the approaching Spring Festival, said a consumption report recently issued by T-mall, an online shopping platform under Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

This trend has triggered a 16-fold rise in sales of ready-to-cook meals on T-mall, and is even altering the consumption habits of older generations, most of whom usually begin storing food well ahead of the Chinese New Year.

The report said that the number of elderly consumers who purchased ready-to-cook meals on the platform had increased 172 percent year on year.

Statistics showed that 800,000 ready-to-cook products were sold in just five days on T-mall, and best sellers were those designed to feed 8 to 10 people.