Trade giant Alibaba said its Singles Day sales hit another record, but grew by only 8.5%. The number has traditionally been in double digits since the event was launched in 2009 - it subsequently eclipsed American sales on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. Last year, the one-day event lasted for 11 days. However, the Chinese state-run Securities Daily criticized the emphasis on high turnover as incompatible with the country's new values.

Analysts said the underperformance this year also reflects the concerns of Chinese consumers who are fatigued by aggressive promotions and poor customer service. People are becoming more cautious about spending due to new outbreaks of the pandemic and the resulting supply disruptions - as a result, the Chinese economy showed the slowest growth in a year in the third quarter.

Alibaba's dominance is weakened by the influence of competitors JD.com and Pinduoduo, which have become more active in competing for consumer attention. JD.com stretched "Singles Day" by 11 days and reported record transactions worth 349.1 billion yuan ($ 54.5 billion) - an annual growth of 28.6%.