The mainland is close to axing the Labour Day 'golden week' holiday and introducing compulsory paid annual leave after the State Council approved the plan in principle yesterday.
A general meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao reviewed and approved in principle a draft rule on annual paid leave and a plan to modify the national public holidays regulation, Xinhua reported.
'The drafts will be announced by the State Council and implemented after further revision,' it reported.
The national public holidays regulation of 1999 combined two weekends with three days of public holidays for Labour Day, National Day and the Lunar New Year, to form 'golden week' holidays to boost tourism and domestic consumption.
But recently experts have advocated a change because the national holidays often create transport chaos, accommodation shortages and overcrowding at tourist spots.
Last month Beijing began a public consultation on the possibility of shortening the three-day Labour Day break to one day and adding three traditional festivals - Ching Ming, Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn - to the holiday calendar.
The government also published a draft regulation to mandate paid annual leave for workers who have been with the same employer for more than a year. They will get five days of paid annual leave if they have worked for fewer than 10 years, 10 days after 10 years with the same employer and 15 days after 20 years.