Mark your 2021 calendars. If you work with manufacturing plants in China, it’s important to be aware of the possible production delays that could happen throughout the year. Today’s post will give you some guidance on China’s national and most-celebrated government holidays. As many are already aware of their suppliers’ Chinese New Year plans, China has a few other known holidays that could negatively affect lead times and therefore, should be factored into your ordering timeline when issuing purchase orders.
Holidays to plan for in China include:
May Day
Also known as International Worker’s Day or Labor Day in China, May Day falls on May 1 each year. For this holiday, and many other Chinese holidays, weekends are usually swapped with the weekdays following the actual holiday to create a longer holiday period. Because May Day falls on a Saturday this year, it is extended into the following weekdays and offers workers a holiday period of May 1 – 5, 2021, potentially delaying the production of goods by rougly one week if this was not planned for.
National Day
Chinese National Day is celebrated on October 1 every year to commemorate the founding of People’s Republic of China. This holiday, however, was turned into a week-long holiday in 2000 to encourage more holiday travel, tourism, and spending. Therefore, you may want to plan for potential delays with Chinese manufacturing plants by a week or two for any orders that are in production during the week of October 1 – 7, 2021.
Chinese New Year
This year, the lunar new year falls on February 12, 2021, but it’s not uncommon for factories to shut down for an entire two weeks. This is one of the most celebrated holidays in China and therefore will definitely impact lead times for ordered goods. As you’ve likely already placed your orders to get around this holiday, make sure you mark your calendar in Q3 and Q4 of 2021 to plan for Chinese New Year in 2022, which falls on February 1, 2022.
Additional Holidays to Monitor
There are a few other holidays that are celebrated by the People’s Republic of China, but tend to run for shorter periods of time. So while these holidays will be observed by factories, they may not have as dramatic of an impact on your production lead times.
We suggest marking your calendars for the following holidays and asking your suppliers about any potential impact they could have on your goods.
- Tomb Sweeping Day, Apr 3 – 5, 2021
- Dragon Boat Festival, Jun 12 – 14, 2021
- Mid-Autumn Festival, September 19 – 21, 2021
- New Year’s Day, 2022, Jan 1 – 3, 2022
Download the Chinese Holiday Calendar for Your Desk
Whether you’d like to hang this up by your desk, or set it as your desktop background, download the Chinese Holiday calendar today to not only discuss with suppliers the potential impact on production, but also ensure you’re accounting for any factory shutdowns into your ordering timelines.
