Chinese New Year 2027
Chinese New Year 2027: shipping deadlines and planning
Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 6 February 2027. Factories across China close for weeks around it, and the rush to ship beforehand fills vessels and pushes up rates. Here's how to plan around it.
- New Year’s Day
- Saturday 6 February 2027
- Factory shutdowns
- Typically 2–4 weeks
- Aim to have goods ready by
- Mid-January 2027
Updated
Key dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Late December – mid January | Factories rush to finish orders. Demand for shipping space peaks and rates usually rise. |
| Mid to late January | Many factories stop taking new production and begin winding down. Workers start travelling home. |
| Friday 5 February 2027 | New Year’s Eve. |
| Saturday 6 February 2027 | Chinese New Year — Year of the Goat. |
| Early to mid February | Official public holiday period. Most factories, export services and trucking are closed or very limited. |
| Late February – March | Factories reopen gradually. Full production can take weeks to return as workers come back. |
China's State Council usually publishes the official public holiday schedule, including any make-up working days, in November or December of the year before. The exact days off may shift once it's announced, but factory shutdowns typically run well beyond the official holiday in any case.
A planning timeline
October–November 2026: confirm production schedules
Ask each supplier for its holiday closure dates and the last date it can finish your order. Place orders early enough to be produced and inspected before mid-January.
November–December 2026: book shipping
Book space well ahead. In the weeks before the holiday, vessels fill up and cargo is often rolled to later sailings.
Mid-January 2027: goods ready and collected
Aim to have goods collected from the factory at least three weeks before the holiday. Anything not picked up by then will probably wait until after it.
Late January 2027: last realistic sailings
Goods already at the port can still sail in the final week or two, but trucking and export services thin out as the holiday approaches.
March 2027: check quality after the restart
Factories often run with new or temporary staff after the holiday. Consider a pre-shipment inspection for the first post-holiday production run.
How much stock to bring in before the holiday
A simple way to estimate the gap you need to cover:
- Count the weeks from your last pre-holiday departure to the first post-holiday arrival. By sea this is often 8–10 weeks: the shutdown itself, the slow restart, and the transit time.
- Multiply by your weekly sales, and add a safety margin for a slow restart.
- If you sell on Amazon, check your inventory limits before you ship extra stock, and allow for longer receiving times in January.
Other holidays to plan around
- Golden Week (National Day), 1–7 October. A week-long national holiday. Production and export services slow down, and the weeks before it are busy.
- Labour Day, around 1 May. A shorter holiday, but still slows production and trucking.
- Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn festivals. Short holidays with limited impact, but worth checking with your suppliers.
For year-round transit planning, see China to USA shipping times.
FAQ
Chinese New Year 2027: common questions
The questions importers ask us before the first booking. If yours is not here, ask us directly — a real coordinator replies, not an auto-responder.
When is Chinese New Year 2027?
Saturday 6 February 2027, with New Year’s Eve on Friday 5 February. It begins the Year of the Goat.
How long do Chinese factories close for Chinese New Year?
Typically two to four weeks, starting in the second half of January. Production often takes several more weeks to return to full capacity.
When should goods be ready before Chinese New Year 2027?
Aim to have goods collected from the factory by mid-January 2027, at least three weeks before the holiday.
Do shipping rates go up before Chinese New Year?
Usually, yes. Demand for space rises sharply in the weeks before the holiday as everyone tries to ship before factories close.
Can goods still ship from China during the holiday?
Vessels keep sailing, but most factories, trucking companies and export services are closed or very limited, so new cargo rarely moves during the holiday itself.