China on Thursday held a subdued version of its annual "Single's Day" shopping spree, shorn of the usual boasting on sales volume as the country's chastened e-commerce sector reels under a government crackdown on platforms like Alibaba.
The world's biggest shopping festival has for years been accompanied by aggressive promotions and breathless hourly updates by Alibaba from midnight onwards detailing ever-rising sales figures that dwarf the annual GDP of many nations.
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