The Henan Province recently issued an order requiring leading officials to take the lead in taking vacations, and asking all units to establish vacation records, with the main person in charge being listed as the first responsible person. Henan also introduced discounts for scenic spots, accommodations, and transportation, incorporating paid leave into stimulating consumption measures. Scholars and netizens questioned whether the local government of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to arrange vacations through administrative means to boost the continuously sluggish consumption market.
On August 5, the CCP Henan Provincial Committee Organization Department, Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Commerce Department, Culture and Tourism Department, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and General Trade Union, jointly issued the “Notice on Further Promoting the Implementation of Paid Peak-off Holidays for Workers,” requiring leading officials to take vacations, promoting the idea that workers should take all entitled vacations, and cracking down on “paper vacations” and falsification of leave records.
The document stipulates that workers who have worked continuously for 12 months, whether they are permanent, contract, dispatched, or temporary workers, are entitled to paid annual leave. Those who have worked for less than 10 years can take a 5-day leave, those who have worked for 10 to less than 20 years are entitled to a 10-day leave, and those who have worked for 20 years or more can enjoy a 15-day leave.
Henan requires that the main person in charge of the unit bears the primary responsibility. Government entities implement a system of individual application and unit record-keeping for vacations, and companies cannot have layered approvals or covert restrictions. The employing units must also establish an annual vacation plan, set up records, and make them public. Although the CCP is trying to promote paid leave through administrative orders, the effectiveness of the related measures is still being questioned due to power dynamics in official circles and the operational difficulties faced by private enterprises.
Zhengzhou writer Xu Qinghua (pseudonym) stated that power relations in the CCP officialdom are top-down, with subordinates often reluctant to take vacations if their superiors do not do so. He remarked, “Henan including leading officials to take vacations as part of their responsibilities is purely for show to please the central authorities. Recently, there have been many leadership changes in Henan, and the new officials are eager to demonstrate their presence, including leading by example in taking vacations. This is a characteristic of the CCP official culture.”
Xu Qinghua pointed out that while CCP government entities can enforce measures through administrative orders, many private companies are facing reduced orders, declining profits, and pressure for layoffs. Even if employees are entitled to leave, they may be reluctant to request it. Having paid leave written into official documents does not equate to ordinary workers truly having the right to vacation. Whether employees can take leave still depends on the approval of leaders and the willingness of companies to allow time off.
The official Henan document mandates that in cases where vacations cannot be arranged due to major projects, emergency response duties, or holiday shifts, workers’ consent must be obtained, and they should be compensated for the leave they were unable to take. The Labor and Social Security departments will include the implementation of paid annual leave in their routine inspections and special examinations, publicly exposing units that refuse to schedule vacations, delay compensation, or resist rectification.
After news of these measures spread on mainland Chinese online platforms, discussions among netizens shifted towards income and employment. A netizen from Guangdong commented, “We can’t afford to take vacations; going out means spending money, the common people are financially strained and can’t afford it.” Another netizen expressed, “What we lack now is stable jobs and wages.” A netizen from Jiangsu stated, “Without pay during vacations, where will consumption come from?”
The “Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Workers” of the CCP have been in effect since 2008. Eighteen years after the implementation of the system, Henan still needs to promote its execution through leading by example, record-keeping, special inspections, and public exposure. Xu Qinghua believes that this indicates that the vacation rights of Chinese workers have long been neglected.
The Henan authorities encourage workers to connect their annual leave with weekends, statutory holidays, and school breaks, creating flexible extended holidays lasting 3 to 7 days; designated units can also experiment with a short vacation model of “half-day on Friday + weekend + annual leave.” In response to this, Hunan scholar Liu Xuebin told Epoch Times that the main problem is not the lack of vacations but the decrease in income and increased family burdens. Requiring people to take vacations and offering discounts on attractions and transportation cannot change the losses caused by unemployment, reduced wages, and the decline in real estate values. He remarked, “The CCP’s attempt to stimulate the economy through boosting consumption has proven to be ineffective.”
In this year’s CCP State Council “Government Work Report,” the implementation of the system of paid staggered vacation for workers was proposed. Following this, measures related to paid leave were subsequently implemented in Guizhou, Yunnan, Shanxi, Hainan, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shaanxi, and Tianjin, among other places. Paid vacations are now part of two policy lines aimed at protecting workers’ rest rights and increasing consumption time.
In response to this, Liu Xuebin pointed out that relying on paid leave to stimulate consumption reveals the deficiency in the CCP’s efforts to expand domestic demand. Faced with collective wage demands in labor rights actions, authorities are powerless, resorting to suppression as their only means, a situation that will eventually lead to widespread protests.