INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesChinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping frenzy has broken records in its 11th year.The world's
biggest online shopping event raked in more than $30.8bn (210bn yuan; £23bn) in sales in 16.5 hours of trading, surpassing last year's
all-time-high.A gala featuring pop star Taylor Swift launched the 24-hour shopping blitz.It marked Alibaba's first Singles' Day since the
exit of its colourful founder, Jack Ma.He was replaced as executive chairman by Daniel Zhang earlier this year after stepping down to focus
on philanthropy and education.The firm said sales reached $1bn in a little over one minute of trading on Singles' Day
"Based upon that first hour I would be really surprised to not see it come in above $32bn," said Daniel Newman, technology analyst at
Futurum Research.The shopping festival began in 2009 with participation from just 27 merchants as an event to raise awareness about the
More than 200,000 brands are participating in this year's event.The number of delivery orders also exceeded one billion after 16 hours,
beating the total number of orders in 2018.But sales growth for the full 24-hour event, however, is unlikely to match that of 2018
Analysts said growth was being held back by a slowing overall e-commerce industry in China.What is Singles' Day?Alibaba invented the
occasion to celebrate the unattached as an antithesis to the romantically involved on Valentine's Day.It is now the world's biggest online
sales event and last year's total sales exceeded Black Friday and Cyber Monday's sales combined
Ahead of the event, there was some concern Chinese consumers may be reluctant to buy US brands because of tensions between the countries.The
world's two largest economies have been fighting a trade war that has seen both sides impose tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of one
another's goods.Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionAlibaba Singles' Day: Dollars or data?The trade battle has cast a
shadow over the Chinese economy as it grapples with a wider slowdown
Singles' Day is seen as an indicator of consumer sentiment in China and how willing shoppers are to spend
Alibaba listing? Over the years, Alibaba has grown from an online marketplace into an e-commerce giant with interests ranging from financial
services to artificial intelligence
The company - one of China's largest - is now valued at $480bn, according to Forbes
The firm is also eyeing a stock market listing in Hong Kong
Reports suggest Alibaba - which is already listed in the US - may announce plans to proceed with a multi-billion dollar Hong Kong listing as
