Golden Week Just Got Longer: 8-Day Holiday Announced!

CNBC AI News, July 25th – A trending topic ignited on Weibo this afternoon: #8-DayHolidayIsComing#, sparking a flurry of online discussion about the implications for productivity and consumer spending.

According to the recently released 2025 Holiday Schedule from Beijing, the next extended break for many workers won’t arrive until October. The confluence of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations will result in a contiguous eight-day national holiday.

National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival: Employees will be granted an eight-day vacation from Wednesday, October 1st to Wednesday, October 8th. Commuters will be required to work Saturday, September 28th and Saturday, October 11th to compensate.

Online sentiment, however, is mixed. Some users lamented the “make-up days,” with one quipping, “I’d rather not have this eight-day holiday; dividing them up would give us ten days off!” This sentiment reflects a broader debate within China about the practice of adjusting work schedules to create longer holidays.

The holiday announcement follows a November 2024 decision by the State Council to revise regulations concerning national holidays, effective January 1, 2025, offering a framework for strategic holiday allocation in the world’s second-largest economy.

These revisions specify that paid leave can be arranged in a unified way, which, combined with the implementation of paid annual leave and other systems, can actually form longer vacations.

With limited exceptions, employees will generally not be required to work more than six consecutive days before or after a statutory holiday.

According to state media, officials have acknowledged the diverse range of opinions regarding holiday “make-up” days. They assert that these adjustments play an irreplaceable role in facilitating family visits and boosting domestic tourism, while also recognizing areas for potential policy refinement. The government balances the need to stimulate economic activity in key sectors, such as retail and hospitality, with concerns about worker fatigue and productivity.

Officials believe this round of holiday scheduling, combined with the pre-existing extension of statutory holidays, represents an “optimized” solution.