Local and global brands shine as 11-11 breaks sales records, spurs consumption Despite an unusually lukewarm start and low-key character, this year's "Double-11"－the 11-11 shopping carnival－still proved outstanding as it showcased China's immense consumption potential and the economy's resilience. What's more, this year's edition confirmed the festival has evolved into the world's biggest shopping event from its humble beginnings in 2009, when it was conceptualized by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd as an occasion for singles to splurge (hence the Nov 11 date containing all four single numerals－"Singles Day"). The festival also got longer, spread over 11 days in offline and

BEIJING -- Chinese online payment clearinghouse NetsUnion and card payment giant China UnionPay reported online payments worth 22.32 trillion yuan (about $3.48 trillion) during this year"s Singles' Day shopping spree from Nov 1 to 11, data from the central bank shows. During the 11-day period, over 27 billion transactions were processed by the platforms, surging 17.96 percent year on year, with the total value involved up 14.98 percent year on year, said the People's Bank of China. Payment services were safe, efficient and convenient, and the scale of related business, as well as residents' consumption, increased steadily during the shopping

Chinese e-commerce giant JD reported its accumulated sales rose 28.58 percent year-on-year to 349.1 billion yuan ($54.6 billion) during the Singles Day shopping carnival, which kicked off at 8 pm on Oct 31. JD said the transaction volume of 31 brands surpassed 1 billion yuan during the shopping spree, with Apple Inc’s products surpassing 10 billion yuan. The turnover of 43,276 merchants surged more than 200 percent year-on-year, while the number of small and medium-sized brands increased over four times on a yearly basis. Through the use of new energy vehicles, solar power systems and recyclable packages, JD also reduced