By Nirbhay Kumar

Hangzhou (China), Nov 11 (IANS): Tech giant Alibaba's Singles' Day sales has hit $26.38 billion and set to zoom past its previous year record holding high hopes for the Chinese economy which has slowed down in the wake of a global trade war.

The total merchandise value (GMV) of $26.38 billion was reached at 12 p.m. on Monday.

The e-commerce behemoth had recorded a total sales of $30.8 billion worth of merchandise during its one-day shopping event in 2018.

In what suggests strong domestic consumption demand, Alibaba's sales across its various platforms crossed $10 billion within half an hour of the global shopping festival, 2019 also called Double Eleven kicking off.

The shopping blitz saw 200,000 brands participating in the mega event which has over the years become an important date in the Chinese calendar.

The mega shopping event now kicks off with pomp and grandeur. In the hours leading up to the shopping event on Sunday night, music megastar Taylor Swift besides other domestic and international celebrities performed.

The Singles' Day 24-hour sales which offer deals and bargains to millions of shoppers has surpassed the sales of all similar events such as Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

On Sunday night, the sales on Alibaba platforms skyrocketed to $1 billion within two minutes. The number of orders created at peak of this year's Global Shopping Festival reached 544,000 orders in a second, 1,360 times that of the first edition of the festival in 2009.