China’s 2019 Holiday Schedule

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China’s General Office of the State Council released the country’s official holiday schedule for 2019 through its “Circular about Public Holiday Arrangement” on December 6, 2018.

As is traditional, the holiday schedule features two major week-long holidays: the Spring Festival (also known as Chinese New Year) and National Day. In 2019, the Spring Festival falls between February 4 and 10, and the National Day holiday between October 1 and 7.

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Foreign human resource managers should note that Saturdays and Sundays are often marked as additional official work days in China to compensate for long holiday breaks.

For example, in 2019, Saturday, February 2 and Sunday, February 3 are designated as official work days to partially offset the seven days off for the Spring Festival.

Private companies in China, however, have the right to determine their own schedules – that is allow for additional days off – so long as the official holiday calendar is maintained.

Update: On March 22, 2019, the State Council announced a reshuffling of the working/non-working days for the Labor Day Holiday. Companies and schools will now enjoy an extended four-day break beginning Wednesday May 1 to  Saturday May 4, 2019.  To compensate these extra days off, two working days have been added on: Sunday 28 April, 2019 and Sunday 5 May, 2019.

China’s official public holiday schedule for 2019

New Year

  • December 30, 2018 – January 1, 2019 (3 days in total; Sunday to Tuesday)
  • Adjusted Working Day: December 29, 2018 (Saturday)

Spring Festival

  • February 4 – 10, 2019 (7 days in total; Monday to Sunday)
  • Adjusted Working Days: February 2 and 3, 2019 (Saturday and Sunday)

Tomb Sweeping Day

  • April 5 – 7, 2019 (3 days in total; Friday to Sunday)

Labor Day

  • May 1-4, 2019 (Wednesday to Saturday)
  • Adjusted Working Days: April 28 (Sunday) and May 5, 2019 (Sunday)

Dragon Boat Festival

  • June 7 – 9, 2019 (3 days in total; Friday to Sunday)

Mid-Autumn Festival

  • September 13 – 15, 2019 (3 days in total; Friday to Sunday)

National Day

  • October 1 – 7, 2019 (7 days in total; Tuesday to Monday)
  • Adjusted Working Days: Sunday, September 29 and Saturday, October 12, 2019

china-holiday-list-2019

(Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on December 11, 2018 and has been updated to reflect changes introduced by the government to the official holiday and working-days schedule.)

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