How many working days are in a month in China?
There are two official answers, and neither is the number of working days in any particular month. Since 2025, mainland China's labour ministry puts the year at 248 working days, or 20.67 a month, and uses 21.75 days a month to convert pay. The real calendar swings from 16 to 23 working days. Here is what each number means and when to use it.
The short answer
Under the 2025 rules there are 248 working days in a standard year: 365 days, minus 104 weekend days, minus 13 statutory holidays. Divided by twelve, that is 20.67 working days a month, the figure used for average working time.
For converting a monthly wage into a daily or hourly rate, a different figure applies: 21.75 days a month. Neither average tells you how many days people actually work in, say, February, because holidays and makeup workdays bunch up in a few months.
Month by month in 2026
Counted from the State Council's 2026 holiday notice, the year again comes to 248 working days, but the months are very uneven. Makeup workdays, the weekend days that become working days, are included in the counts.
| Month | Working days | incl. makeup | vs 20.67 average |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21 | 1 | +0.33 |
| February | 16 | 2 | −4.67 |
| March | 22 | – | +1.33 |
| April | 21 | – | +0.33 |
| May | 19 | 1 | −1.67 |
| June | 21 | – | +0.33 |
| July | 23 | – | +2.33 |
| August | 21 | – | +0.33 |
| September | 22 | 1 | +1.33 |
| October | 18 | 1 | −2.67 |
| November | 21 | – | +0.33 |
| December | 23 | – | +2.33 |
| Year | 248 | 6 |
Where 248 and 20.67 come from
The figures are set in a notice from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (人社部发〔2025〕2号), issued on 1 January 2025 when the number of statutory holiday days rose from 11 to 13. It gives the standard year as 365 − 104 − 13 = 248 working days, a quarter as 62 days and a month as 248 ÷ 12 = 20.67 days. Working hours follow by multiplying by eight hours a day.
The notice replaced the 2008 rules, which were based on 11 holidays: 250 working days a year and 20.83 a month. Payroll templates and handbooks that still show 20.83 are out of date.
Why pay uses 21.75 instead
Statutory holidays are paid days. The Labour Law (Article 51) requires employers to pay wages for them, so they are not deducted when converting monthly pay. The same 2025 notice therefore sets the monthly pay days at (365 − 104) ÷ 12 = 21.75 days. That figure did not change in 2025, because adding paid holidays does not change the number of paid days.
The notice gives two conversions: daily wage = monthly wage ÷ 21.75, and hourly wage = monthly wage ÷ (21.75 × 8). For example, a monthly wage of 8,700 yuan converts to 400 yuan a day and 50 yuan an hour. These are the standard conversions. Contracts, local rules and special working-hour arrangements can set things differently, so this is a summary, not payroll advice.
Example: February 2026
February 2026 contains the nine-day Spring Festival break. Even counting its two makeup Saturdays, it has far fewer working days than the 20.67 average:
Sun, Feb 1, 2026 – Sat, Feb 28, 2026
16 working days out of 28 calendar days
9 holiday days and 3 weekend days are skipped; 2 makeup workdays are counted.
Which number to use when
Each figure answers a different question. Mixing them up is the most common mistake.
- Planning work, delivery or staffing for a specific month: count the real working days from the calendar, as in the tables on this page.
- Standard average working time, for example 20.67 days or about 165 hours a month: use the 2025 averages.
- Converting monthly pay to a daily or hourly rate, for example for overtime under Article 44 of the Labour Law: use 21.75 days.
2025 for comparison
In 2025 the total was also 248 working days, but they fell differently: the Spring Festival came in late January and early February, and National Day and Mid-Autumn merged into one eight-day break.
| Month | Working days | incl. makeup | vs 20.67 average |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19 | 1 | −1.67 |
| February | 19 | 1 | −1.67 |
| March | 21 | – | +0.33 |
| April | 22 | 1 | +1.33 |
| May | 19 | – | −1.67 |
| June | 20 | – | −0.67 |
| July | 23 | – | +2.33 |
| August | 21 | – | +0.33 |
| September | 23 | 1 | +2.33 |
| October | 18 | 1 | −2.67 |
| November | 20 | – | −0.67 |
| December | 23 | – | +2.33 |
| Year | 248 | 5 |
The averages are standards, not counts
The 248-day figure assumes exactly 104 weekend days. A leap year, or a year with 105 Saturdays and Sundays, can have a slightly different real count, and each year's holiday notice moves days between months. That is why the tables here are counted day by day from the official notice. Next year's table appears once the State Council publishes the notice, usually in early November.
Check your own dates in the workday calculator →
Compare China (mainland) with your team's other countries: shared working days and hours →
Questions
- Is 21.75 still the right number after the 2025 change?
- Yes. The 2025 notice kept monthly pay days at 21.75. Only the working-day averages changed, from 250 to 248 a year and from 20.83 to 20.67 a month.
- Why does February often have so few working days?
- The Spring Festival break usually falls in January or February. In 2026 it took most of a week out of February.
- Do makeup Saturdays count as working days in these tables?
- Yes. Under the national schedule they are ordinary working days, so they are included.
- Do these figures apply in Hong Kong or Taiwan?
- No. They are mainland China rules. Hong Kong and Taiwan have their own holidays and employment law.
Sources
- 人力资源社会保障部关于职工全年月平均工作时间和工资折算问题的通知（人社部发〔2025〕2号） · Central People's Government (gov.cn)
- 国务院办公厅关于2026年部分节假日安排的通知 · Central People's Government of the PRC (gov.cn)
- 国务院办公厅关于2025年部分节假日安排的通知 · Central People's Government of the PRC (gov.cn)
- 中华人民共和国劳动法 第四十四条、第五十一条 · National Laws and Regulations Database
Based on official sources as of the review date. Not legal, tax or payroll advice.