China holds longest run of Double II sales but buyers hold back

Chinese shoppers cooling on annual event, with discounts offered throughout the year

- Joyce ZK Lim China Correspondent

China in 2025 held the longest run of its annual Double 11 shopping extravaganza as e-commerce platforms sought to drum up spending in a tepid economy.

But the country’s largest online sales event yielded little clear evidence that the sluggish sentiment among thrifty Chinese shoppers is improving.

Third-party data provider Syntun estimated that 2025’s Double 11 event pulled in 1.695 trillion yuan (S$309 billion) in sales, up from 1.44 trillion yuan in 2024.

But it gave the caveat that the data’s comparability was limited, given that promotion windows were different. Alibaba’s sale, for instance, ran for two days longer than in 2024, and JD.com’s for four days longer, it said.

E-commerce industry observer Li Jianggan noted that 2025’s Double 11 sales appeared “neither weak nor showing explosive growth”, reflecting that Chinese consumers today were “still spending, but with a stronger focus on rationality and value”.

Analysts said if shopping festivals like Double 11 are a barometer of consumption growth, the government will need to do more to raise household spending if its share of the economy is to increase.