Sales of China's largest online retailers broke last year's record

Sales of China's largest online retailers broke last year's record during Singles Day, but year-over-year growth slowed. The event is the Chinese equivalent of the American discount events Black Friday or Cyber Monday and is often called the largest shopping event in the world. The largest Chinese online retailers Alibaba and JD.com offered customers discounts from October 30 and October 31, respectively, and the event ended on Thursday, November 11. JD.com's total revenues reached 349.1 billion yuan, which is almost a third more than last year, while Alibaba earned a total of 540.3 billion yuan. Alibaba's total sales rose 8.5 percent compared to last year, which is the lowest in history, according to Reuters. Since 2009, when the e-shop giant started the Singles Day tradition, sales have always increased at a double-digit rate year-on-year. They are also overcoming the spending of Americans during the Cyber Monday discount event, which the local online retailers are announcing on the first Monday after Thanksgiving. According to the AP agency, the growth of Chinese sales slowed down due to the pandemic, and this year's Singles Day also took place after a significant intervention by the local technology sector. The country has been imposing restrictions in the form of antitrust laws or data protection and security rules since last November. Many analysts see the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to strengthen economic surveillance. In addition, Alibaba did not promote this year's Singles Day as strongly as in recent years, but instead reported on its social initiatives. While in previous years the retailer promoted washing machines, smartphones or makeup, this year it draws attention to a program that helps people with disabilities to buy clothes and to the effort to use more environmentally friendly packaging. It may have something to do with the policy of the local president, Jin Jinping, who wants to move his country towards "common prosperity". According to him, China should focus on a fairer redistribution of wealth in society. The CNBC server said in August, referring to China's economic leaders, that the goal was to "adequately adjust excess income and motivate high-income groups and businesses to return more to society." Alibaba is one of China's most lucrative companies, and its founder, Jack Ma, withdrew from public life a year ago after criticizing the Chinese authorities. Earlier this year, the company was fined $ 2.8 billion for antitrust violations. Before Singles Day, the Chinese authorities asked Alibaba and JD.com to limit the promotion of the event.