Chinese multinational conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. earned US$10 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) an hour after the start of the annual 2018 Global Shopping Festival at midnight on Sunday, despite economic headwinds.

Alibaba Group saw the GMV, or the value of total transactions on its platform settled through Alipay, continue to rise, exceeding $17 billion on Sunday morning, surpassing its record from 2016.

During the first hour of the giant shopping event, known as Singles’ Day or 11.11, referring to the date Nov. 11, the top three brands sold were Xiaomi, Apple and Dyson, while the top categories were audio equipment, mobile phones and diapers.

Top countries selling to China were Japan, the United States and Korea, whereas the top imported brands bought by Chinese consumers were Swisse, KAO and Moony.

The opening of 11.11 global shopping event was enlivened by performances featuring Mariah Carey, Cirque du Soleil and many more. Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma also attended the event.

 “Alibaba is making use of all of its platforms to make Singles’ Day a holiday that also includes dining and entertainment,” said Jet Jing, president of Tmall, an e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba Group.

For the 10^th annual shopping festival, Alibaba Group, whose businesses specialize in e-commerce, retail and artificial intelligence among others, utilized all of its ecosystems, giving carious promotions and discounts to attract online shoppers. (dwa)