Invented by Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall, China's largest consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketplaces, Nov 11's Singles Day is no longer a day to celebrate being single. Instead, it is the most important online shopping spree in China.

After shocking the world with its debut on the New York Stock Exchange as the largest IPO in US history on Sept 19, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth, again, showed its muscle with astonishing one-day sales figures.

The Singles' Day shopping spree is a reflection of the rapid expansion of China's e-commerce sector in recent years.

57.1 billion yuan

Online sales on Alibaba's Tmall.com, Taobao.com and its overseas outlets, such as AliExpress, topped 57.1 billion yuan ($9.34 billion) on Tuesday, beating Tmall and Taobao's combined 2013 Singles' Day sales of 36.2 billion yuan.

The big screen shows sales volume during the Nov 11 Singles' Day shopping spree at Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on Nov 11 2014. [Photo/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]