Chinese workers to get 2 extra days’ holiday, including longer Lunar New Year

Two public holidays will be extended by a day, but the survival of the unpopular ‘holiday swap’ system tempers enthusiasm

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Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest festival, will now be extended by an extra day. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:28pm, 12 Nov 2024Updated: 11:41pm, 12 Nov 2024

China announced on Tuesday that two days will be added to the public holiday calendar next year, taking the total to 13.

The move does not create new holidays but extends two existing ones, including Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest festival.

As of next year, Spring Festival will be extended from three days to four with the addition of Lunar New Year’s Eve.

The traditional Labour Day holiday on May 1 will also be extended with the addition of the following day.

The Chinese authorities have typically banked on extended breaks as a way of boosting consumer spending and this is a particular concern at present amid faltering growth and a strategy of boosting domestic consumption to help the economy.

Apart from public holidays, Chinese workers are typically given between five to 15 days’ annual leave, which some workers take after major public holidays such as Lunar New Year or National Day in October to extend their time off.

Although this is a common practice in many countries, China also has a particular system known as tiaoxiu, or “holiday swap”, which adds regular days off – for example weekends – to the public holiday period to extend the break.