The company said 540.3 billion yuan ($ 84.5 billion) was spent as China’s army of consumers splurged, despite a much more low-profile sales campaign following government pressure to mitigate the aggressive promotions and rampant consumerism.

Combined sales with industry rival JD.com totaled 889 billion yuan ($ 139.4 billion) – the equivalent of the GDP of many countries – which was also a record high and rising by about a fifth from last year.

Alibaba and JD.com both reported strong sales of items such as electrical appliances, electronics, pet supplies, cosmetics and other personal care items.

JD.com’s share rose more than 4% in Hong Kong on Friday, although Alibaba fell more than 1%.

The so-called “Single’s Day” for the 11.11 date began over ten years ago and was for years a one-day, 24-hour event on November 11th.

But industry players recently extended it to an extended November 1-11 promotion, with many retailers and platforms offering discounts and presales even earlier.

The shopping spree has now eclipsed the “Black Friday” frenzy in the United States and has become a barometer of consumer confidence in the world’s second largest economy.

Fearful that Big Tech is getting too powerful and abusing its market dominance, the government has this year significantly tightened regulations.

The campaign rocked investors, taking billions of dollars from the market capitalization of Alibaba, which has seen its share price fall by about 30% this year, along with JD, Tencent and other major players.

In e-commerce, the government has specifically tackled allegations of abuse of user data and monopoly business practices by platforms, such as banning merchants from selling their products on competing sites.

But the steady increase in sales to consumers should also be quietly greeted by the government, which is poised to create a more modern consumer-driven economy, thereby reducing the traditional dependence on manufacturing, exports and public investments.