Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group cashed a record 213.5 billion yuan in sales its 24-hour online retail frenzy Singles' Day.

Total sales on its platforms, including Tmall and Taobao, on Sunday represented an annual increase of about 27% from the 168.2 billion yuan a year ago, Alibaba said.

The Tmall site smashed the 10 billion-yuan threshold in just two minutes and five seconds, breaking last year's record of 3-minutes, 1-second.

The biggest spenders were from Shanghai, followed by those in Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.

According to Alibaba, more than 19,000 overseas brands from 75 countries and regions participated in this year's online shopping spree in China.Health supplements topped the most popular imported products, with milk powder, diapers and skincare products also high on consumers' shopping lists.

Alibaba Group chief executive Daniel Zhang said the spending bonanza demonstrated "customers' continued pursuit to upgrade their everyday lifestyles".