Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com made over US$60 billion sales during the November 11 Singles Day event, one of the biggest one-day online shopping events in the world.

This year, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. received more than 268 billion yuan (US$38.3 billion) in sales during the 24-hour shopping bonanza, while it's domestic rival, JD.com reportedly made a cumulative sales of 165.8 billion yuan (US$23.7 billion) for the whole festival.

Chinese state-owned media Xinhua said JD.com sold 10,000 Huawei GT2 smartwatches within 45 seconds, some 10,000 sweeping robots within one minute, 100,000 microwaves within five minutes, over 10,000 dishwashers in eight minutes, over 20,000 Dyson hair dryers in 10 minutes, over 10,000 iPhone 11 Pro sets in five minutes, and over 10,000 Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G version in 15 minutes on the platform.

Electric appliances, fresh food and household items were the most popular categories among online consumers as well as order volume of SUVs.

Last year, Alibaba made 213.5 billion yuan (US$30.8) during the Singles' Day sale, while JD.com reported sales of 159.8 billion yuan (US$23 billion.

The Single's Day shopping craze is akin to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the US but introduced locally by Alibaba's e-platform Tmall on Nov. 11, 2009.

E-commerce has grown tremendously the past decade not just in China but it's neighbours in Southeast Asia. From the traditional brick and mortar presence, these Chinese internet giants have expanded to online selling of consumer goods, entertainment and online retailing.

China alone reportedly has 800 million people online, connected to such online-shopping sites. 

And more e-commerce transaction means more shipments that need to be moved across — either by air, land or sea.

Emirates Cargo, one of the biggest freight service providers in China, noted, however, that the bulk of these 11/11 sales is likely for domestic deliveries.

The company however named e-commerce as among its growth drivers for the next few years.