Hong Kong/Shanghai — For American brands struggling to survive a resurgent coronavirus, China is proving to be one of the few bright spots. As Alibaba Group Holding prepares to host its biggest and most global shopping marathon ever, its position as a gateway to the world’s fastest-recovering economy is winning points with an increasingly hostile US administration.

Alibaba’s annual Singles’ Day event held on November 11, is an online shopping phenomenon that, with $38bn of sales in 2019, easily dwarfed Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The festivities, which provide a snapshot of Chinese consumption, will feature the largest international presence since the company pioneered the format 11 years ago, including a number of US merchants making their first forays into the Asian market...

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