Singles Day couples China with the world

With a total transaction volume that is more than the volumes of Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day combined, it is not surprising that the Singles Day shopping festival, which falls on Nov 11 each year, has become a barometer for consumer confidence in China.

While the total sales volume this year is yet to be released, the numbers available indicate it will be another record-breaking year for the shopping gala, whose transaction volume has surged from $7 million in 2009, when Alibaba launched the event, to $30.8 billion last year.

With the total gross merchandise volume settled through Alibaba's payments platform Alipay hitting 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) within 63 minutes and 59 seconds - 43 minutes ahead of last year's pace - and an estimated half a billion people believed to have swarmed Alibaba's e-commerce platforms, scooping up everything from refrigerators to running shoes, the purchasing power and enthusiasm of Chinese consumers shows no signs of having been diminished by the trade war the United States is waging against China.