光棍节上演网络购物狂潮

You may remember that last Sunday - November 11th - marks Singles’ Day in China. It’s another occasion for celebration, for the young across the country to eat, drink and... this year... to shop. Alibaba Group, operator of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms, launched a "shopping festival" this year on its Tmall.com, brandishing big discounts-- as much as 50 percent off, on numerous items.

According to the company’s official microblog, sales on Tmall.com reached 13 billion yuan on November 11. In addition, China’s biggest online shopping site, Taobao.com, which operates Tmall.com, also saw sales of 5.9 billion yuan on the day. Statistics show that more than 100 million consumers logged on Tmall and Taobao for a shopping spree.

China has the world’s largest population of Internet users, with the number hitting 538 million people as of June this year. According to the China e-Commerce Research Center, the country’s e-commerce market turnover in the first half of 2012, jumped almost 19 percent from a year earlier to 3.5 trillion yuan.