Chinese New Year 2024 – Dates For Importers

This content was reviewed for accuracy on 18/12/2023

Chinese New Year is on the 10th of February 2024, the year of the Dragon.

This year, we expect Chinese factories to be closed for business from the 10th to the 17th of February (this will vary from factory to factory). To be safe, we’d suggest that your goods would need to be ready for the week of the 29th of January in order to catch a vessel from any of the major ports although most will be accepting goods early the following week.

If your supplier can’t get your goods to the port before the holiday, the ports are likely to start loading goods again around the 19th of February (ready to sail the following week).

Around this time, vessel space becomes quite limited, so even though you’ll have a few extra days to work with if shipping a full container load (FCL), this is highly dependent on available space. Our suggestion is to secure a space as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

• What is Chinese New Year?

  Chinese New Year is the most significant yearly occasion with the whole of China closing for around a week in order to celebrate. It has almost 4,000 years of history and folklore, making it rich in heritage. Now, Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, is a time to spend with family. In addition to celebrating a year of hard work, people also wish for good fortune and prosperity in the upcoming year.

  Traditions celebrated at this time include:

  • visiting family and friends
  • exchanging gifts
  • using red decorations
  • watching fireworks & dances

  Leaving the year of the rabbit and entering the year of the dragon, the celebrations will last 15 days until lantern festival on the 24th February. If you’re interested in finding out more, here are 10 facts about Chinese New Year.

• What happens during Chinese New Year for Importers?

  1. Suppliers will not take on any more orders.
  2. The development of samples and production stop one to two weeks prior to Chinese New Year. (Not always within your supplier’s control; occasionally, the factories that provide them with materials and goods may close early, causing a disruption in the supply chain as a whole.)
  3. Production does not resume straight away. Following Chinese New Year, there is a minimum two-week production halt. The actual holiday only lasts for five working days plus a weekend, but as most factory workers are not employed in their home province, they travel back home to celebrate Chinese New Year. In addition to the holiday, many choose to spend an additional week or two in their home provinces. Naturally, this causes a delay in production time because the factories are unable to simply resume operations until they have enough workers.
  4. Quality may reduce, after the new year, not all of the workers return to work straight away therefore the quality of goods may reduce for a couple of weeks until everyone is back from their holiday.
  5. Backlogs of orders may last a couple of months as suppliers are playing catch-up from early December, if you need your goods manufactured and sent out quickly it’s best to avoid this time of year.

   

  

• What can you do to prepare?

  1. Planning ahead will be your best option, ordering at least 3 weeks (depending on production times) before the holiday will allow for your supplier to give you an idea on when the goods are due to be ready as well as planning the transit of your goods ahead of time.
  2. Consider shipping via air, if your goods are urgent, airfreight will be the best option to get goods to you as quickly as possible. Airfreight is expensive, however, this may be worth it if it means you are going to run out of stock before you can get your shipment to the UK via sea.
  3. Check the quality of goods, it may be worth considering a third-party service to quality check your goods in China to account for the lack of workers that are in the factories before and after the new year period.

• What other dates do I need to be aware of?

  Golden week tends to create a similar amount of disruption due to the length of the holiday, however, it is good to be aware of these holidays incase you have any deadlines around these times:

  • Qingming Festival 4th – 6th April
  • Labour Day 1st – 5th May
  • Dragon Boat Festival 10th – 12th Jun
  • Mid-Autumn Festival 15th – 17th Sept
  • Golden Week 1st – 7th Oct

• Contact Us

  We’ve included all of the main points you need to know to plan around Chinese New Year as an importer.

  If you’re unsure of how you need to plan or want some guidance on timelines, feel free to get in touch with us.

  Contact Us Here