China's annual shopping frenzy shatters records again
92 views · Published 16 November 2018 · 2:07 · Indexed 21 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · Entertainment
(11 Nov 2018) CHINA'S ANNUAL SHOPPING FRENZY SHATTERS RECORDS AGAIN Online shoppers in China have shattered last year's record of 24 billion US dollars in sales on the country's annual buying frenzy on Sunday (11 NOV. 2018), as the tradition marked its 10th year. Known as Singles Day, the clamor for deals and discounts was heralded with characteristic fanfare by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which has turned an unofficial holiday for people without romantic partners into a yearly windfall for digital retailers. A massive screen at Alibaba's gala in Shanghai showed the surging sales numbers in real time: At 2 minutes and 5 seconds after midnight Saturday, 10 billion yuan (1.43 billion US dollars) in purchases had already been made on Alibaba's platforms. By the 1 hour and 47 minute mark, that number had increased tenfold. Sales figures for the Chinese online e-commerce giant Alibaba came in at 30.7 billion US dollars, or 213.5 billion Chinese yuan in a single day. Speaking at the company's countdown event, Alibaba's CEO Daniel Zhang expressed hope that the company will play a pivotal role in helping foreign companies enter the Chinese market over the next five years. His comments come amid a prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China, with both sides raising tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of goods. "Nobody likes a trade war. I think a trade war will damage both China and the US," Zhang said to reporters before the countdown event. Singles Day began as a spoof event celebrated by unattached Chinese university students in the 1990s. In Chinese, it's called "Double 11," after the numbers in the month and date. The improvised holiday was co-opted by e-retailers in 2009 and transformed into China's version of Cyber Monday, as the Monday after Thanksgiving is known. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/563ff60bf3629897506ba30029c684a9
