China’s ‘Singles’ Day’ shopping fest subdued by tech crackdown

China on Thursday held a subdued version of its annual “Singles’ Day” shopping spree, shorn of the usual boasting on sales volume as the country’s chastened ecommerce sector kept a lower profile amid a government crackdown on platforms such as Alibaba.

The world’s biggest shopping festival has for years been accompanied by aggressive promotions and breathless hourly updates by industry leader Alibaba detailing ever-rising sales figures equal to the annual GDP of many nations.

But there were no rolling tallies or triumphant comments by executives from major platforms as of midday Thursday, and the whole affair was virtually ignored by state-controlled media in an indication that the feverish former sales hype might be a thing of the past.