![Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba, along with Alibaba CEO Zhang Yong (right) and Tom Farley, president of the New York Stock Exchange, ring Chinese bells to open the exchange in Beijing, on Nov 11, 2015. [China Daily]](U472P886T1D188385F12DT20151112134902.jpg "Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba, along with Alibaba CEO Zhang Yong (right) and Tom Farley, president of the New York Stock Exchange, ring Chinese bells to open the exchange in Beijing, on Nov 11, 2015. [China Daily]")
Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba, along with Alibaba CEO Zhang Yong (right) and Tom Farley, president of the New York Stock Exchange, ring Chinese bells to open the exchange in Beijing, on Nov 11, 2015. [China Daily]
(ECNS) -- Jack Ma Yun, Alibaba chairman, rang the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) remote trading from Beijing on Wednesday evening, in celebration of its annual 11.11 shopping festival.
Tom Farley, president of the NYSE, together with Ma and Alibaba CEO Zhang Yong, rang two sets of bronze China-bells to open the exchange at Water Cube Olympic swimming venue (National Aquatics Center).
This year, Alibaba said total transaction volume on its Tmall.com platform alone hit 91.22 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) on Wednesday, far ahead of last year's record 57.1 billion yuan.
Ma said the record sale shows China's huge potential in domestic consumption. "The festival is just the beginning, and would last at least 100 years," he said, "It will turn into a global festival and may be held in Tokyo, Paris or New York in five years."
The November 11 event, China's equivalent of Black Friday or Cyber Monday, which was originally created as a sort of Valentine's Day for singles, has quickly become China's biggest shopping spree of the year, thanks to publicity efforts by Alibaba starting in 2009.
Besides, it is the first time for the NYSE to hold a remote bell-ringing ceremony for a Chinese firm.
