Eye on Asia | China’s online shopping frenzy is no panacea for the clear air and water we really need for survival
- More than 1.87 billion parcels would be delivered in the six days after November 11, mostly wrapped in non-recyclable and non-reusable plastic
- Imagine how many of these will end up in our oceans, our water supply or eventually in our bodies
The inaugural China International Import Expo wrapped up on the 10th of November with US$57.83 billion worth of deals agreed for the year ahead.
This was followed by a record-breaking result of China’s Singles’ Day, or “Double 11” shopping event. For the 24 hours on 11th November, the gross merchandise value (GMV) reported by Alibaba had reached US$30.8 billion, a 27 per cent growth from last year, more than 4,100 times the volume of 2009 when the event was first created.
It is now the largest shopping event in the world, a combination of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Prime Day on steroids. Whoever thinks China’s economy is in trouble must be mistaken.
However, the broader economic picture does seem less optimistic. China’s third-quarter gross domestic product growth of 6.5 per cent was the slowest pace since the Global Financial Crisis 10 years ago. According to the National Statistics Bureau, October retail sales rose 8.6 per cent, the slowest pace since May.
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The Singles’ Day splurge seems to underline the recovery of consumer confidence of the world’s largest population. But there are limits to how much one day can determine the health of a country’s economy. The question is how long and well it could be sustained.