SATURDAY MARKED the annual Nov 11 online shopping sales. The total amount generated in the sales this year is not yet known, but it will definitely set a record because within 13 hours it had exceeded 120.7 billion yuan ($18.1 billion), the total for the whole day last year. The Economic Observer comments:

Since it was launched in 2009, the Singles Day shopping carnival has set new sales records every year and the rate at which the total value of sales has been growing has accelerated.

Why is this? The rapid popularization of e-commerce in China is definitely the main cause. China now has 750 million internet users, of which 96 percent use the mobile internet, which is a consumption force comparable with no other country.