Nov 11: Singles Day online payments hit 1.48t yuan

China's Singles Day online payments hit 1.48 trillion yuan ($211 billion), according to data released by the People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, on Tuesday.

The Double 11 shopping spree, which falls on Nov 11 every year, saw 1.779 billion online payment transactions totaling 1.48 trillion yuan, with year-on-year growth rates of 35.49 percent and 162.6 percent, respectively, according to the central bank. These transactions were handled by Chinese online payment clearinghouse NetsUnion Clearing Corporation and UnionPay, the country's largest bank card payment processor.

The payment figure is the equivalent of having every Chinese person order about 1,000 yuan worth of merchandise, 21st Century Business Herald said in a Wednesday report.

Alibaba, the initiator of the Double 11 shopping carnival in 2009, achieved sales of 268.4 billion yuan this year, an increase of 26 percent compared to 2018.