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China Public Holiday 2025 Schedule
China has released its 2025 Public Holiday schedule. Compared to 2024, the number of public holidays for all citizens has increased by two days, specifically for Lunar New Year's Eve and May 2nd.
The announcement also clarifies the adjusted holiday arrangements, stating that the continuous work period before and after statutory holidays generally should not exceed six days, except for certain special circumstances.
According to the notice, in 2025, the Spring Festival will have an 8-day holiday, the Labor Day holiday will last 5 days, and the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival will jointly have 8 days off.
中国发布了 2025 年公众假期安排。与 2024 年相比，全体公民的法定节假日增加了两天，特别是农历除夕和5月2日。
通知还明确了调整后的放假安排，规定除个别特殊情况外，法定节假日前后连续工作时间一般不超过6天。
根据通知，2025 年春节放假 8 天，劳动节放假 5 天，国庆节、中秋节连休 8 天。
Qian Zhou
Manager, China Briefing
Shanghai Office
The State Council released the official China Public Holiday 2025 schedule through its Circular of the General Office of the State Council on the Arrangement of Public Holidays in 2025 on November 12, 2024.
Starting January 1, 2025, there will be some notable changes to public holidays compared to 2024. The total number of holidays for all citizens will increase by two days, with one additional day added to both the Spring Festival and Labor Day.
The State Council has also decided to further optimize the holiday arrangements. Here are the key updates:
The Spring Festival will have an eight-day holiday starting from Lunar New Year's Eve.
The National Day holiday will last seven days from October 1.
Labor Day will be a five-day holiday.
New Year's Day, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival will each have three days off.
If any of these holidays fall on a Wednesday, only that day will be a holiday. Additionally, if National Day coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, the holidays will be combined for a total of eight days off.
China has long been considered one of the least generous countries in terms of public holidays. Additionally, people have expressed frustration over the complicated adjustments to holiday and working days that are meant to create longer breaks. The newly introduced changes are expected to address these concerns to some extent.
Beyond the newly introduced changes, China's 2025 public holiday schedule still features two major week-long holidays: Spring Festival (also known as Chinese New Year) and the National Day holiday (often called 'Golden Week').
In 2025, the Spring Festival falls between January 28 and February 4, and the National Day holiday, together with the Mid-Autumn Festival, fall between October 1 and 8.
Foreign human resource managers should note that Saturdays and Sundays are often marked as additional official workdays in China to compensate for long holiday breaks. For example, January 26 (Sunday) and February 8 (Saturday) are designated as workdays to partially offset the eight 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.
China public holiday 2025 schedule: Official calendar
New Year
January 1, 2025 (one rest day)
Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)
January 28 and February 4, 2025 (eight rest days in total)
Adjusted working days: January 26, 2025 (Sunday) and February 8, 2025 (Saturday)
Tomb Sweeping Festival (Ching Ming Festival)
April 4 to April 6, 2025 (three rest days in total, in connection with two weekend day)
Labor Day
May 1 to May 5, 2025 (five rest days in total)
Adjusted working days: April 27, 2025 (Sunday)
Dragon Boat Festival
May 31 to June 2, 2025 (three rest days in total, in connection with the weekend)
Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day
October 1 to October 8, 2025 (eight rest days in total)
Adjusted working days: September 28, 2025 (Sunday) and October 11, 2025 (Saturday)
Overtime payment for hours worked on a holiday
Depending on the type of rest days and the working hour system implemented, the overtime payment rates are different:
Under the standard working hour system, for work on an official public holiday, not less than 300 percent of the normal wage shall be paid; for work on an adjusted rest day, and where such rest days cannot be postponed and taken at another time, not less than 200 percent of the normal wage shall be paid.
Under the comprehensive working hour system, for work performed on public holidays not less than 300 percent of the normal wage shall be paid However, no rest day is outlined under this system, so that for work performed on those adjusted working days and weekends, no overtime payments are available.
Under the non-fixed work hour system, no less than 300 percent of the normal wage shall be paid for work on public holidays. However, there are differences in overtime regulations across different regions. For instance, in Beijing, employees under the non-fixed work hour system are not entitled to overtime pay for hours worked on public holidays. However, in Shanghai, these hours are considered overtime, and employers are required to pay compensation of up to 300 percent of the normal wage.
For adjusted working days on weekends, no overtime payment is due.
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