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Update | Singles Day sale beats spectre of 2014 by delivering record US$10bn for Alibaba, after arch bachelor James Bond launches event

Online shopping promotion delivers for Jack Ma's Alibaba

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James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Alibaba's chairman Jack Ma appear during Tuesday night's TV gala promoting the event. Photo: Reuters

The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has broken its sales record for the Singles' Day online shopping event.

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The company said it had taken 57.1 billion yuan (HK$69 billion) by 11.50am on Wednesday.That is equivalent to US$8.9 billion. That milestone had risen to 63.6 billion yuan by 5pm, or US$10 billion. 

The firm's previous record on a Singles' Day, billed as the world's biggest online shopping event, was the 57 billion yuan it took last year. 

Alibaba said earlier that it made 20 billion yuan in sales in just over half an hour as its online stores started taking orders early on Wednesday.

About 200 million transactions had been processed by the firm by about 8.20am, it said. 

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The company enlisted the help of James Bond actor Daniel Craig and other celebrities to massively promote the online shopping event.

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