Like every year, the Chinese New Year will punctuate our calendar. In 2022, it will take place on February 1st, and it goes hand in hand with annual vacations and factory closures for almost a month.
But what are the impacts on your purchases in Asia? How can you avoid possible delays? And what precautions should you take?
As a dedicated sourcing agency in Asia, we will try to answer all your questions.
How long is the Chinese New Year?
The Chinese New Year, also called “Spring Festival”, has more than 4,000 years of history. It is said to be the longest holiday of the year because it is the best opportunity for Chinese people to return to their hometowns and celebrate the new year with their families!
The dates vary every year: the national holiday starts on the first of the lunar calendar and lasts until the 15th of the first month. In 2022, the Chinese New Year will begin on Tuesday, February 1 and end on February 15 with the Lantern Festival.
Officially, the week of January 31 to February 6 is considered a public holiday. But in reality, most workers stay longer in their home provinces, so factory activity is disrupted for almost a month.
Disruptions to be expected
A month-long factory closure
As you can see, the CNY vacations are a major disruption for manufacturers and their customers, as all Chinese factories are closed during this period, without exception.
With production in factories stopping one to two weeks before New Year’s Eve, this early interruption of the supply chain puts an end to all orders, regardless of their size.
Finally, most Chinese people extend their stay in their home provinces by one to two weeks. That’s why most suppliers are back in business only two, sometimes even three weeks after Chinese New Year’s Eve.
In all Asian countries
Apart from China, other Asian countries also celebrate the Chinese New Year: Vietnam. But also the Chinese community located in South East Asia: Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is therefore a whole part of the planet that works in slow motion!
A slow return to normal
Once the reopening of the factories has begun, they must face several complications. Indeed, many workers do not return to their employers, and this without any reason. The company had to recruit and train new workers to bring them up to speed.
Production gradually resumed, but it took time for the factories to return to full capacity (often not before the end of March).
Deadline, quality, price: Eastwise’s 3 key strengths
Our solution to accompany you at best is to anticipate and plan! This year, even more than the previous ones, with the Covid-19 crisis.
- In order to deliver on time, we draw up a map of plant closures in advance. We draw up a retroplanning for you with the deadlines to remember: order deadline, shipping deadline, date of reopening of order taking, etc.
- Never lose sight of quality! If these inconveniences affect the supply chain, you can count on us to redouble our vigilance in terms of both inspections and quality controls. As a reminder, we perform as many inspections as necessary to ensure that the product meets your needs.
- To keep your budget in check, we negotiate prices BEFORE the Chinese New Year (around November/December of the previous year); this way, we avoid having them go up afterwards.
What do you have to do ?
To avoid being caught off guard, we give you 3 tips:
- List your merchandise needs to be purchased in Asia,
- Place your orders now (September/early October) so that we can select the best supplier and secure your production to start by the end of November,
- Build up sufficient stocks to cover your business needs until one month after the Chinese New Year.
2022 will celebrate the year of the Water Tiger. Did you know that tigers are courageous and active people who like to put adventure in their lives? It’s a good thing: let’s dare to take up the challenge together and approach this period in all serenity!
