Alibaba's Singles Day sales top US$74bil, planned rules hit shares

The world's biggest sales event - eclipsing Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States - spanned 11 days this year, and brought sellers on AliBaba's platforms 21 times as many orders by value as Amazon.com Inc's two-day global Prime Day last month. Such is its size that its performance is widely considered indicative of China's post-virus economic recovery.

HANGZHOU, China: Alibaba sales for its post-COVID-19 Singles' Day shopping extravaganza hit US$74 billion, a haul that was overshadowed by a 10% drop in its shares on Wednesday after China published draft anti-trust rules aimed at internet platforms.

The world's biggest sales event - eclipsing Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States - spanned 11 days this year, and brought sellers on AliBaba's platforms 21 times as many orders by value as Amazon.com Inc's two-day global Prime Day last month.