Online shopping festival to boost domestic consumption

Premier Li Keqiang's recent comments on the role domestic consumption has to play in the economy are well timed as China's annual "Nov 11" 24-hour online shopping marathon is just around the corner.

Nov 11, widely recognized as "Singles' Day", has become China's biggest annual commercial holiday and a huge e-commerce success story, with thousands of discounts and record-breaking sales.

Last year, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's e-commerce giant and the original promoter of Singles' Day, recorded a 83 percent year-on-year increase on its two online platforms - Tmall.com and Taobao.com - with sales reaching 35 billion yuan ($5.69 billion) thanks to the shopping carnival.