BEIJING -- Chinese postal and courier companies handled a total of 251 million packages on Singles' Day, the world's largest online shopping day.

The figure was 52 percent more than the previous year, the State Post Bureau said in a statement.

The bureau forecast couriers will handle more than 1.05 billion packages from the Singles' Day on Friday to Nov. 16, up 35 percent from a year earlier.

The surge in packages will weigh on the country's logistic system, especially in the first three days after the shopping spree started, the statement said.

This year's shopping festival smashed lots of previous records. China's 16 major e-commerce sites recorded 177 billion yuan (about $26 billion) in sales during the 24 hours, according to data provider Syntun.