A general view shows shoppers crowding a street lined with stores displaying Black Friday discount sale signs in London, UK, on November 21, 2025. Photo: VCG

As this year's "Black Friday" sales kicked off, global e-commerce giant Amazon officially launched its Black Friday promotion on November 20 local time, after pre-sales began on November 13 on its "Amazon Global Store." Meanwhile, major Chinese cross-border e-commerce players such as TikTok Shop, Shein, Temu, and AliExpress also launched large-scale promotional activities lasting over a month, igniting a global year-end shopping frenzy. 

The Black Friday shopping spree takes place on the fourth Friday of November each year, and in some Western countries it usually marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. It has become a major event for both American and Chinese firms and consumers, thanks to the expansive reach of cross-border e-commerce. Chinese consumers are increasingly purchasing foreign products through digital platforms, while Chinese producers export goods through cross-border e-commerce channels.

This year, a wave of promotions, livestream events and tech-driven initiatives aimed at US and European shoppers has further fueled the expansion of Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms, which offer a wide range of high-quality, affordable made-in-China products delivered directly to consumers worldwide, the Global Times learned on Friday.

During this year's Black Friday event, over 300 brands on AliExpress have recorded revenue more than double that achieved via their Amazon listings, while the number of brands reaching $1 million in sales jumped 80 percent year-on-year. Sensor Tower data showed that on the first day of the promotion (November 20), AliExpress app downloads in Europe surpassed those of Amazon, according to a Securities Times report on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Tmall International announced a 100-hour global livestreaming campaign involving more than 1,700 global buyers who will livestream from over 30 cities - including Los Angeles, Paris, London, Munich, Seoul and Milan - to showcase overseas products to Chinese consumers, the National Business Daily (NBD) newspaper reported.

In addition, e-commerce platforms have ramped up efforts on digital trade centers, logistics hubs, and smart customs systems, enabling faster processing of both digital and physical goods. Cainiao, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, told the Global Times that since the start of this year's Black Friday promotion, its overseas warehouses have nearly tripled their normal processing capacity and achieved a 99 percent same-day dispatch rate.

Leveraging a global e-commerce logistics network and the world's largest investment in unmanned-delivery technology, Cainiao offers shoppers worldwide "five-day global delivery," "three-day delivery in key government-to-government (G2G) corridors" and "next-day delivery from overseas warehouses," the company said.

JD Logistics told the Global Times that it began Black Friday preparations as early as October, seeing a sharp rise in cross-border parcels on core China-US and China-UK routes and steady order growth, the company told the Global Times. A JD Logistics representative said that the average daily throughput continued climbing across dozens of North American warehouses. Most US addresses can receive orders within two to three days, while same- or next-day delivery is now standard across much of Europe. 

"In Europe and North America, shoppers mainly buy 3C products, general consumer goods, home appliances, furniture, apparel and fresh produce - categories that see very high repurchase rates," the representative said.

Analysts said that compared to earlier Black Friday sales seasons, the best-selling categories of Made-in-China products have shifted from basic daily necessities to products with higher technological content and design value.

During the Black Friday sales this year, some cross-border companies have reported significant efficiency gains. 

For example, one Yiwu exporter told the Global Times on Friday that through livestreaming and cross-border e-commerce, it secured a 3-million-yuan order in just three days, something that would have been very hard to do through traditional trade channels.

An operation manager at Suzhou Pineapple Health Technology said the company has built inventory to roughly three times its normal levels and is running dual-shift production at full tilt to get ready for the Black Friday rush. At the same time, the firm is fine-tuning its Amazon ad campaigns in real time. "The monthly sales of one of our self-developed technology products are consistently at around 2,000 units, and we expect sales to triple during Black Friday," the Securities Times quoted the manager as saying.

An Yiwu-based cross-border bicycle parts seller surnamed Wang told the Global Times on Friday that since Amazon's official Black Friday week began on November 20, orders for cold-weather cycling gear have already spiked, with sales of one thermal balaclava topping 7,000 units this month. According to Wang, Yiwu's thermal cycling products have gained widespread recognition in the international market due to their diverse styles, excellent quality, and reasonable prices.

As China's digital trade and cross-border e-commerce gain momentum, steady overseas demand during Black Friday highlights the resilience of China's foreign trade. Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang Province, a key hub of international trade, has provided a valuable window for observing how China's trade digitalization has benefited various stakeholders, offering new momentum for economic growth, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of Forum 50 for Digital-Real Economies Integration, told the Global Times on Friday.

According to CCTV News, the number of e-commerce entities in Yiwu has exceeded 746,300. Among them, the number of businesses focusing on cross-border e-commerce has exceeded 260,000. Cross-border e-commerce transaction volume recorded a year-on-year increase of 15.63 percent in 2024.

In the first three quarters of 2025, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports rose by 5.9 percent year-on-year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

Amid a global trade environment challenged by tariffs and other disruptions, the development of China's digital trade and cross-border e-commerce sector will continue to facilitate global trade and encourage multilateral cooperation. It has played, and will continue to play, a positive role in enhancing the resilience of the world economy, and has become an important driving force in the international trade landscape, Hu said.
the Black Friday rush. At the same time, the firm is fine-tuning its Amazon ad campaigns in real time. "The monthly sales of one of our self-developed technology products are consistently at around 2,000 units, and we expect sales to triple during Black Friday," said the manager, the Securities Times reported.

A Yiwu-based cross-border bicycle parts seller surnamed Wang told the Global Times on Friday that since Amazon's official Black Friday week began on November 20, orders for cold-weather cycling gear have already spiked, with one thermal balaclava topping 7,000 units this month. According to Wang, Yiwu's thermal cycling products have gained widespread recognition in the international market due to their diverse styles, excellent quality, and reasonable prices.

As China's digital trade and cross-border e-commerce gain momentum, steady overseas demand during Black Friday highlights the resilience of China's foreign trade. Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province, a key hub of international trade, has provided a valuable window for observing how China's trade digitalization has benefited various stakeholders, offering new momentum for economic growth, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of Forum 50 for Digital-Real Economies Integration, told the Global Times on Friday.

According to CCTV News, the number of e-commerce entities in Yiwu has exceeded 746,300. Among them, the number of businesses focusing on cross-border e-commerce has exceeded 260,000. Cross-border e-commerce transaction volume recorded a year-on-year increase of 15.63 percent in 2024.

In the first three quarters of 2025, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports rose by 5.9 percent year-on-year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

Amid a global trade environment challenged by tariffs and other disruptions, the development of China's digital trade and cross-border e-commerce sector will continue to facilitate global trade and encourage multilateral cooperation. It has played, and will continue to play, a positive role in enhancing the resilience of the world economy, and has become an important driving force in the international trade landscape, Hu said.