Public Holidays in China for 2019
The Chinese General Office of the State Council already released the official holiday of the country. There are seven official holidays each year in China. The Chinese New Year, New Year’s Day, QingMing Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Labor Day, National Day, and Mid-Autumn Festival. Based on tradition, the schedule of holidays has two major week-long holidays: National Day and Spring Festival. The Spring Festival is between February 4 to 10, and the National Day falls between October 1 and 7.
The foreign human resource managers should take note that weekends are normally considered as working days to make up for the holiday breaks.
For instance, if Feb 2 and 3 falls on a weekend, they will become workdays to offset the seven-day holiday for Spring Festival.
What Business Owners Must Know About China Public Holiday 2019
It would help if you took note of the public holidays in China because businesses normally close for an extended period. It is normally longer compared to the actual holiday. When you arrange meetings, you must first check the Chinese calendar so you can avoid holidays.
The private companies in China may choose their own schedules to allow for more days off to maintain the holiday calendar.
Business Operations During China Public Holiday
Normally, employees and factory workers who live in other cities extend their holiday longer and could be a way for up to four weeks during Spring Festival. The courier companies do not operate for a maximum of two weeks. The restaurants close or operate on a skeleton, and domestic workforce can be away from three to four weeks in case they live in another province.
If the holiday is mid-week, the weekend will be moved to the next holiday so that people can have a bit of time off. That means workers will work on the original days of the weekend. For the foreign businesses that do not have any experience yet, this can cause confusion. Some additional days are taken as holidays even if they are listed as official holidays.
Dates of the China Public Holiday 2019
Date | Which Day/s | Holiday | Type |
1 January | Tuesday | New Year’s Day | National |
4 February | Monday | Spring Festival Eve | National |
5 February | Tuesday | Chinese New Year | National |
6 – 10 February | Wednesday | Spring Festival Golden Week Holiday | National |
8 March | Friday | International Women’s Day | Half day holiday |
5 April | Friday | Qing Ming Jie | National |
6 -7 April | Saturday | Qing Ming Jie Holiday | National |
1 – 3 May | Wednesday | Labor Day Holiday | National |
7 June | Friday | Dragon Boat Festival | Season |
13 September | Friday | Mid-Autumn Festival | National |
1 – 7 October | Tuesday | National Day Golden Week Holiday | National |
8 November | Friday | Journalist’s Day | Observance |
22 December | Sunday | December Solstice | Season |
25 December | Wednesday | Christmas Day | Observance |
Employee Benefits
Statutory holidays also affect the payment of your workers. Based on standard employment policies, employees must be paid 300% more than their normal pay if you ask them to work on a statutory holiday. Employees could find that employees are returning to their homes during the Chinese New Year for a longer period. Sometimes, they might not come back right away after that.
There are Western companies that do not operate on Boxing Day and Christmas Day, but this is not the case for Chinese run companies or joint ventures.
Even if Chinese employees like these long holidays, the longest holidays make it difficult for companies to operate.
Doing Business in China
China now has more than 50% urban area, but 10 to 15 million people move to the countryside each year. A lot of businesses are experiencing cost and margin pressure. However, with China’s powerful economy, you can open still open a business.
Automation Control and Industrial Products
Based on Forbes research, it has shown that this is the fastest growing business in China. The top company already enjoys an impressive number of patents in their items. So, if you want to open a small business in China, go for this.
Supplementary Education
After-school private tutoring service is the next best business to open in China. You can also offer online lessons, which is more convenient for most people.
This is why set up business in China is great. Contact 3E Account to help you with the process.