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| Alibaba sees strong sales as Singles' Day kicks off | Alibaba sees strong sales as Singles' Day kicks off |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba delivered strong early sales as its annual Singles' Day shopping frenzy kicked off. | Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba delivered strong early sales as its annual Singles' Day shopping frenzy kicked off. |
| The world's biggest online shopping event raked in 100bn yuan ($14bn; £11bn) in sales in just over an hour of trading. | The world's biggest online shopping event raked in 100bn yuan ($14bn; £11bn) in sales in just over an hour of trading. |
| A gala featuring pop star Taylor Swift launched the 24-hour shopping blitz. | 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. | 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 Mr Ma stepped down to focus on philanthropy and education. | He was replaced as executive chairman by Daniel Zhang earlier this year, after Mr Ma stepped down to focus on philanthropy and education. |
| Alibaba said sales reached $1bn in a little over one minute of trading on Singles' Day. | Alibaba said sales reached $1bn in a little over one minute of trading on Singles' Day. |
| The total value of merchandise sold hit the 100bn-yuan mark around 40 minutes faster than last year, the firm said. | The total value of merchandise sold hit the 100bn-yuan mark around 40 minutes faster than last year, the firm said. |
| That put Alibaba on track to post a fresh sales record for the shopping event, beating last year's $30.8bn. | That put Alibaba on track to post a fresh sales record for the shopping event, beating last year's $30.8bn. |
| "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. | |
| What is Singles' Day? | What is Singles' Day? |
| Alibaba invented the occasion to celebrate the unattached as an antithesis to the romantically involved on Valentine's 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. | 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 American brands due to 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. | |
| 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. | 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 early as this week. | |