Hangover from Singles Day a cause for mounting concern

I don't spend much time shopping online but I am aware of how big a deal Nov 11 is in China, not least because it brings headlines of record-breaking excess every year.

Alibaba's Singles Day shopping festival again broke records this year, with the e-commerce giant racking up a 26 percent increase in sales, to rake in 268 billion yuan ($38.4 billion).

Similarly, online retail platform JD reported that sales from its copycat online shopping event from Nov 1 to 11 generated an unprecedented 204 billion yuan in sales.