Singles Day becomes China's Black Friday

Media workers prepare to record the big moments at Alibaba Group headquarters as the big sales day approached on Monday, in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, Nov 10, 2013. According to statistics, just six minutes after the Singles Day sales launch on Nov 11, Tmall sales volume reached 10 billion yuan ($1.63 billion), about eight hours faster than last year's time. And one hour later, over 25 million orders were placed through Paypal transactions, hitting 6.7 billion yuan. Singles Day, a day for young Chinese people to celebrate their single status, is now like the post-Thanksgiving Day sales in the US when companies offer a range of discounts and promotions, becoming a lucrative opportunity for China's e-commerce platforms. During the last Singles Day, Tmall sales volume reached 13.2 billion yuan. [Photo/Icpress]