China has released its official 2025 holiday schedule and is introducing two additional statutory days off that extend the Spring Festival and Labor Day holidays by one day each. In 2025, Spring Festival will run from Lunar New Year’s Eve on January 28 through 4 February, and Labor Day Holiday will run from 1 May through 5 May. The new public holidays will be observed across the country from 2025 onwards.
Background
State Council Decree No. 795 introduced two new paid statutory public holidays: Lunar New Year's Eve and an additional Labor Day holiday on 2 May.
Lunar New Year’s Eve is the day before the start of the Spring Festival. As it follows the traditional Chinese lunar calendar and takes place on the last day of the last lunar month, it falls on different dates each year on the Gregorian calendar usually between 20 January to 19 February.
The addition of Lunar New Year's Eve increases statutory holidays for the Spring Festival from three days to four days, being Lunar New Year’s Eve and the first, second and third days of the first lunar month.
The addition of 2 May increases statutory holidays for Labor Day from one day to two days, being 1 May to 2 May.
To provide longer consecutive holiday breaks, the Chinese government assigns weekdays next to statutory holidays as rest days (“adjusted rest days”) and makes Saturdays or Sundays replacement working days (“adjusted working days”) to compensate for those adjusted rest days.
The Chinese government publishes the official schedule of statutory holidays and holiday arrangements annually in the last quarter. If a statutory holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, it is transferred to a working day (usually the following Monday) that is specified in the official schedule.
Key details
From 2025, Lunar New Year's Eve and 2 May will be permanent statutory holidays, increasing the total annual number of paid statutory holidays in China from 11 to 13 days.
Spring Festival and Labor Day Holidays in 2025
Spring Festival Holiday will run from 28 January to 4 February (8 consecutive days)
Adjusted rest days: Monday, 3 February and Tuesday, 4 February
Adjusted working days: Sunday, 26 January and Saturday, 8 February
Labor Day Holiday will run from 1 May to 5 May (5 consecutive days)
Adjusted rest days: Monday, 5 May
Adjusted working day: Sunday, 27 April
Employees’ entitlements for work done on a statutory holiday or adjusted rest day
China has three working hour systems:
The standard working hour system applies to employees who work not more than eight hours per working day and 40 hours per average working week.
The comprehensive working hour system is typically used for employees with irregular shifts, including seasonal or project-based work.
The flexible working hour system is typically used for salaried employees whose working hours are impractical to measure.
The table below shows employee entitlement to overtime pay for work done on a statutory holiday or an adjusted rest day, which vary depending on which working hour system they are classified under:
Working hour system | Work on statutory holiday | Work on adjusted rest day | Work during employee’s normal working hours on adjusted working days on Saturday or Sunday |
Standard | Overtime pay at three times normal wages | Compensation rest day in lieu or overtime pay at two times normal wages | No overtime pay |
Comprehensive | Overtime pay at three times normal wages | No overtime pay | No overtime pay |
Flexible | Varies across regions (e.g. Shanghai – overtime pay at three times normal wages; Beijing – no overtime pay) | No overtime pay | No overtime pay |
Lockton comment
Employers should update their internal policies and practices and employment agreements, as needed, to reflect the additional two statutory public holidays, and ensure that payroll calculations are adjusted accordingly if employees are required to work on the new statutory holidays.
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