Taylor Swift performs at Alibaba's Double 11 Gala on November 10. Photo: IC

US singer Taylor Swift sent her best wishes to Chinese fans in a video played during the Tmall Global Double 11 Event livestream on Sunday night. Her message began trending quickly on Sina Weibo, with the related hashtag reaching 500 million views on Monday. 

During the pre-recorded video, the star recalled her performance during e-commerce giant Alibaba's Singles' Day Gala in Shanghai in 2019, noting that she missed the stage as well as her Chinese fans. 

The video was played as a promotion for four sets of clothing related to her previous albums. A free raffle for 100 global limited white icon woolen hats was also held during the livestream. 

Many Chinese netizens commented on Sina Weibo that they missed Swift's performance in 2019, so hoped she could come to China for another show.

Swift is not the first star to participate in a Chinese livestream since the outbreak of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Kim Kardashian and Rihanna also once promoted their own brands through similar live broadcasts.

Unlike Swift's video, Kardashian and Rihanna took part in the livestream in real time to interact with Chinese consumers, which made some Chinese netizens hopeful that Swift would follow suit. 

"She did not do it live online, which makes me think she lacks sincerity toward fans, but maybe she really didn't have time to make such arrangements," one Chinese netizen wrote after the event.