Russia's New Year holidays and China's Spring Festival: planning January and February

Two long breaks, a few weeks apart

Russia's longest break is at the very start of the year: the New Year holidays, which in 2026 run from 1 to 11 January. Mainland China's is the Spring Festival, tied to the Lunar New Year, which falls between late January and mid-February; in 2026 the break runs from 15 to 23 February.

Between them they leave fewer shared working days than most people expect. Over January and February 2026, mainland China and Moscow are both at work on only 29 of 59 days:

Russia's New Year holidays

Under Article 112 of the Labour Code, 1 to 6 and 8 January are the New Year holidays and 7 January is Orthodox Christmas. Weekends that fall on these days are not simply lost: the government moves them, by a decree published the autumn before, to make the break longer or to give another day off later in the year.

In 2026 the break covers 1 to 11 January, eleven days in a row, and one of the moved days becomes 31 December 2026. Russian offices therefore work only 15 days in January 2026:

Mainland China in January

Mainland China's New Year is short. In 2026 offices are off from 1 to 3 January and then work on Sunday 4 January, a makeup workday. From 5 to 9 January the mainland is at work while Russia is still on holiday.

Every day Russian offices work in January 2026, mainland offices work too, but the mainland has six more working days in the month:

Spring Festival and Defender of the Fatherland Day

Since 2025 mainland China has four statutory days for the Spring Festival. In 2026 the State Council joins them with weekends into a nine-day break from Sunday 15 to Monday 23 February, and makes Saturday 14 and Saturday 28 February working days in exchange.

Russia works through the Spring Festival. Its only February holiday is Defender of the Fatherland Day on 23 February, which in 2026 is a Monday, so Russian offices are off from 21 to 23 February. By coincidence 23 February is a day off on both sides that year.

February 2026 side by side

From 16 to 20 February Russia works while the mainland is closed. The mainland's two working Saturdays are days off in Russia. The result is that the two sides share only half of February:

Example: ten working days from 6 February

Suppose a mainland supplier and a Russian customer agree on Friday 6 February 2026 that the next step takes ten working days, counted from the following Monday. On the mainland calendar the count stops for the whole Spring Festival break but picks up the working Saturday on 14 February, and ends on Friday 27 February:

The same count in Russia

In Russia, 9 to 20 February are all working days, so the tenth falls on Friday 20 February, a week before the mainland date:

A Russian customer expecting delivery on the 20th and a mainland supplier planning for the 27th can both be right by their own calendars. Agreeing on whose calendar a deadline is counted in avoids the argument.

Looking ahead to 2027

Russia's 2027 calendar is published. The New Year holidays run from 1 to 10 January 2027, after 31 December 2026, which is also a day off. In February, Saturday 20 February 2027 is a working day, and a shortened one, so that 21 to 23 February can be a three-day break.

The Lunar New Year falls on Saturday 6 February 2027. The State Council's notice of 5 November 2026 gives the mainland nine days off, from Friday 5 to Saturday 13 February, with makeup workdays on Sunday 31 January and Sunday 14 February. Russia works normally through that week, so the two breaks are again about a month apart.

Planning across both calendars

Moscow is five hours behind Beijing all year, and neither changes its clocks. With a 09:00–18:00 day on both sides, the shared hours are 14:00–18:00 in Beijing, 09:00–13:00 in Moscow: four hours on any day both sides work. A few habits help in January and February:

• Treat late December to the end of February as one planning period and mark both breaks in it.
• Send anything that needs a Russian answer before about 25 December, and anything that needs a mainland answer before the last week before Spring Festival.
• Count deadlines in working days on the calendar of the side doing the work, and say which calendar you mean.
• Expect mainland replies on makeup Saturdays and none from Russia on the same days.

Questions

How long are Russia's New Year holidays in 2026?

Eleven days, from 1 to 11 January. 31 December 2026 is also a day off, because the government moved a weekend day there.

Do Russia's New Year holidays overlap with Chinese New Year?

Rarely. Russia's break is in early January; the Spring Festival falls between late January and mid-February. In 2026 the two breaks are more than a month apart.

Is 23 February a day off in both countries?

Only by coincidence. It is Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia every year; in 2026 it is also the last day of mainland China's Spring Festival break.

How many working hours do Moscow and Beijing share?

Four, with a 09:00–18:00 day on both sides: 14:00–18:00 in Beijing, 09:00–13:00 in Moscow. Neither city uses daylight saving time, so this holds all year.