(Yicai Global) Nov. 12 -- Alibaba Group Holding's shopping platforms Tmall and Taobao have beaten the lackluster market and sold more products than ever before during this year's edition of the Double 11 shopping festival.

The gross merchandise volume increased 27 percent from last year to CNY213.5 billion (USD30.7 billion), while setting a new record, the Hangzhou-based firm said on its website. Chinese e-commerce platforms have generally logged lower sales than last year so far this year. 

The top sellers were Chinese smartphone and home electronics firm Xiaomi, and British household appliance maker Dyson.

The value of China's online retail sales grew 27 percent to CNY627.9 billion in the first nine months of this year, which was 7.2 percentage points lower than during the same period last year.

Japan, followed by America and South Korea were the top three foreign sellers during the first hour of shopping, which started at midnight between Nov. 10 and Nov. 11. Foreign brands of clothes and in particular; wool coats, trousers and hoodies, were among hit items. 

Editor: Emmi Laine