Chinese New Year is just around the corner — the public holiday will take place from January 31st to February 6th, 2022. While a good chunk of the world wraps up another 365 days on December 31st, China will be on their homestretch of the Lunar calendar.
When CNY comes around, more often than not, many new importers are thrown in for a loop. The majority of factories in Mainland China shut down for several weeks, and once they reopen, it may take another couple of weeks to get back up to full production capacity. Therefore, we insist that businesses start planning for this holiday break in advance.
While our facilities are only officially shut down for the public holiday or slightly longer, there are other factors out of our control at play. Uncertainties around Covid-19, the Beijing Olympics (February 4 – 20), government mandates, and the shipping crisis can make things difficult to predict. Looking back at 2021, Chinese New Year was abnormally short, with factories in many parts of the country only closed for the public holiday if at all. While Mainland citizens were mandated to stay in place for contention efforts. However, this year, many workers are planning to leave up to 3 weeks early for vacation — as was common before Covid.
To better understand the impact of this upcoming break, we want to lay out a course of action that can help you and your business avoid problems:
– Contact your project manager, account executive, or merchandiser and inquire about potential timeline impacts to your supply chain.
– Place inventory orders earlier rather than later. While a pre-CNY shipment may not be guaranteed, orders placed before it will be prioritized over new orders once workers return after the holiday.
– Consider arranging additional Quality Assurance checks. The Chinese New Year shutdown is seen by many factory employees as the optimal time to switch jobs, which can cause complications. Velong Enterprises will ramp up QC procedures in our production lines going into the holiday as it is of essence that everyone is focused on producing quality products.
For more project-specific questions or concerns, please contact your respective Project Manager, Account Executive, or Merchandiser.
