The firm said sales surpassed the record amount of $9.3bn (£6.1bn) made last year in just over half the time.

Singles Day, also known as Double Eleven because it is held on 11 November, has become a major annual event for Chinese retailers.

Alibaba said more than $1bn was spent within eight minutes of midnight.

Within the first hour, it had made $3.9bn (£2.bn) in sales, almost double the amount spent in the same time period of the event last year.

In comparison, sales on Cyber Monday, which is the biggest online shopping day in the US, hit $1.35bn, according to data analytics firm ComScore.

Alibaba accounts for more than 80% of China's internet sales market.It predicts that 1.7 million couriers, 400,000 vehicles and 200 planes will be making deliveries of products that range from electronics goods to cosmetics despite slowing growth in China.

-BBC