Ronald Wan

Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, broke its one-day sales record by more than 80 percent as it heads toward an initial public offering that may be valued higher than Facebook. Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba's two main platforms, topped 35 billion yuan ($5.75 billion) in the 24-hour period, surpassing last year's sales of 19.1 billion yuan, the company said on its official Twitter account. Yesterday was China's Singles' Day, a local twist on Valentine's Day, and e-commerce firms marked the occasion by flooding the internet with promotions, fueling demand on China's biggest online shopping day.