Chinese New Year and Public Holidays 2025 and 2026 in China

1. The day of the Chinese Lunar New Year from 2025 to 2030

Year	Chinese New Year Day	Chinese Zodiac Sign
2025	January 29, 2025	Wooden snake
2026	February 17, 2026	Fire horse
2027	February 6, 2027	Fire Goat
2028	February 13, 2029	Earth Monkey
2029	13 février 2029	Earth rooster
2030	February 3, 2030	Metal dog

2. The official annual public holidays schedule for 2025 and 2026 in China

On November 12, China's State Council announced and published the official dates of the public annual vacation calendar for 2025. The dates given below for 2026 remain provisional and are subject to change. This page will be updated as soon as next year's public holidays are officially published.

 

Traditional Holidays	2025 Official Public Holidays	2026 Public Holidays Forecast
New Year's Day according to Gregorian calendar (元旦)	Wednesday January 1st	Thursday January 1st
Chinese New Year (春节)	Tue, January 28 to Tue, February 4 (+ catch-up days on Sunday, January 26 + Saturday, February 8)	Mon February 16 to Sun February 22
Qingming Festival (清明节)	Friday April 4 to Saturday April 6	Sunday April 5 and Monday April 6
Labor Day (劳动节)	Thursday May 1 to Monday May 5 (+ catch-up day on Sunday April 27)	Friday May 1st
Dragon Boat Festival (端午节)	Saturday May 31 to Monday June 2	Friday June 19th
Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节)	Wed October 1 to Wed October 8 (+ catch-up working days on Sun 28 Sept + Sat 11 Oct)	Friday September 25
+ Fête Nationale (国庆节)		Thu 1st to Wed 7th October

In addition, here are the links to the leave and holiday 2025 calendars valid in Hong-Kong and Taiwan.e.

 

3. Impact of the Chinese New Year on your business relationship with China

 

3.1 A unique annual period affecting production

The public vacation dates for the last Chinese New Year were officially January 28 to February 4, 2025, so one full week. As is the case every year in China, this does not mean that the emplyees of all companies go on vacation and return to work on these precise dates.

Why is that? as every year, this is the only time when factories and production sites can be closed for a few weeks. For factory workers, it is often the only and traditional opportunity to be with their families, who often live far from their workplace.

Expect to see that many manufacturing facilities

 

3.2 The Lunar New Year and its impact on the largest population migration

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, sees hundreds of millions of people on the move. Official annual estimates put the number of trips at over 800 million. Despite a well-developed national transport network, congestion is unavoidable. The return of staff is a gradual process. As this is the period when employees receive their annual bonus before the vacations, it is usual for some of them not to return. They change employer, job or region. This means that you need to take this context into account if you are planning to recruit managers, executives or employees in China.

 

3.3 The impact on production deadlines, container availability and freight rates

Every year, the downturn, stoppage and restart of supplier activity has a major impact on their production capacity and delivery times. The impact of this period means manufacturing and delivery delays of 3 to 4 weeks or more. On a temporary basis, the sharp rise in raw material costs and the shortage of ocean freight containers make it more difficult to keep supplies flowing smoothly. To better control logistics flows, importers are adjusting their incoterms for supplies from China.

 

3.4. China travel restrictions being eased and a new visa exemption policy

During the Chinese New Year vacations from 2020 to 2023, the health context led to a gradual departure and return of the workforce. The main nuance was that many employees had not returned to their families in previous years. Many employees and managers in the big cities had not travelled to their home province to join their families. They wanted to avoid the increased health risks (covid) associated with transport. They preferred to avoid quarantine periods, which are quite unpredictable depending on the region. Since 2024, the policy of eliminating the need for visas for China has been confirmed and now extends to dozens of countries.

In order to maintain the health of companies, the authorities now allow a domestic or foreign company registered in China to temporarily reduce its activities and expenses as part of a legal dormancy procedure.

 

• Since the end of 2024, China has opened up the civil aeronautics sector to foreign investors. This year, many cooperation and investment projects are coming in.
  
  
• An update to the Company Law came into force on July 1, 2024. It is designed to support and empower investment.
  

• Due to with numerous supply difficulties affecting prices and delivery times, many Western importers are reorganizing their purchasing policies and sourcing from Chinese suppliers or manufacturers.
  
  
• Some overseas exporters, who sometimes benefit from a government support plans, have taken the opportunity to explore new international markets. This includes seeking sales opportunities with Chinese distributors and importers.
  
  
• To better manage their inventory, local importers established logistics consolidation centers near ports or in one of China's 21 free trade zones. These facilities were either dedicated or shared.
  
  
• Some companies with the capacity to anticipate long-term or timely opportunities have decided to set up their own manufacturing sites or assembly plants in China. They intend to produce and sell locally.

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