Published : 2025-03-25

On March 25, 1995, Li Peng (李鵬), the then Premier of the State Council of China signed the State Council Order No. 174, deciding to implement a 5-day workweek starting from May 1 of that year.

The so-called five-day workweek means that employees work 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. This system not only reduces working hours in China, but also includes the additional benefit of two-day weekend, where Saturday is also designated as a rest day.

The policy change towards a five-day workweek began in May 1986. With the support of Song Jian (宋健), the then State Councillor and Director of the State Science and Technology Commission, the "Working Hour Reduction Project Team" was established.

Domestic research found that at that time, the effective working hours of most units accounted for only 40% to 60% of the regulated working hours. In other words, the effective working time was less than 30 hours out of a 48-hour, six-day work week.

At the same time, questionnaire surveys designed for different target groups found that in the choice between "adding one day's wages" and "not increasing wages, but adding one more rest day," more than 80% of people chose "adding one more rest day," even though the economy was not good at the time.

After 10 years of effort, China finally implemented the five-day workweek in 1995.