STORY: Longest "Double 11" shopping spree unleashes China's surge of consumer vitality
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 10, 2024
DATELINE: Nov. 11, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:33
LOCATION: HANGZHOU, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of China's shopping festival
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): XIA YAOYAO, Pre-sales manager of e-commerce department of Marssenger Kitchenware Co., Ltd.
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WANG KUI, Operation manager of Tmall trade-in center of Taobao & Tmall Group
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LIAN WENZHAO, Head of Taobao apparel industry operations of Taobao & Tmall Group

STORYLINE:

"Double 11," China's shopping festival similar to Black Friday, has been extended over time.

This year, e-commerce platforms rolled out their respective "Double 11" programs significantly earlier, making the online shopping spree the longest ever. A heady, instant extravaganza has evolved into a month-long affair.

China's trade-in subsidy has been added to the festival discounts provided by e-commerce platforms for the first time, creating combined offers that drive consumption.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, as of early November, the trade-in programs had seen over 30 million consumers participating and brought more than 400 billion yuan (55.6 billion USD) in sales.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): XIA YAOYAO, Pre-sales manager of e-commerce department of Marssenger Kitchenware Co., Ltd.
"After searching for 'trade-in' on the Taobao app, customers in (Zhejiang) province can receive and use the trade-in subsidy."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WANG KUI, Operation manager of Tmall trade-in center of Taobao & Tmall Group
"We've developed a code for each recycled product, from recycling to dismantling. It enables full-link traceability and tracking of the products."

As this year's "Double 11" began in mid-October, Taobao and Tmall added four countries -- Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia -- to their brand-new global free shipping program. 

The program, initiated in July, covers various countries and regions, including Singapore, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea.

JD.com, another e-commerce giant, recently included Malaysia and Thailand in its global free shipping zone.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LIAN WENZHAO, Head of Taobao apparel industry operations of Taobao & Tmall Group
"By the end of October, more than 420,000 retailers had signed up for our global free shipping program. Among them, 70,000 retailers have seen sales double year-on-year."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hangzhou, China.
(XHTV)