No rest yet: Why the six-day workweek persists in China

After nearly a month of job hunting, Zhao Qing, a Chinese office worker born in the 1990s, found that very few jobs offered a standard two-day weekend. “It’s either a single day off or alternating ‘big and small weekends’,” she said, referring to the system where employees get one day off one weekend and two the next.

Last month, after the Chinese government introduced measures to curb overtime culture, many companies followed up by giving employees more rest time. However, Zhao admitted in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that “having two days off a week is still a luxury for overworked employees treated like ‘cattle and horses’.”

Against a backdrop of declining birth rates and weak domestic consumption, the Chinese government has renewed its efforts this year to implement regular two-day weekends. In March, the National Development and Reform Commission proposed an action plan addressing major pain points such as the prevalence of overtime culture. The plan clearly states that employers must not illegally extend working hours and must enforce the system of paid annual leave.

To stimulate holiday spending, the State Council also increased the number of statutory holidays this year, raising the total from 11 to 13 days.

In addition to targeting office workers, since March this year, many high schools across China have begun trialling two-day weekends. To push local governments to enforce the new policy, the Ministry of Education announced a list of primary and secondary schools that had violated regulations by holding unauthorised classes on 11 April. The ministry also pledged to continue inspections and crackdowns, maintaining a “strict, high-pressure” approach.

A parent of a high school student in central China told Lianhe Zaobao that since the government introduced two-day weekends, students in grades up to year two of high school now get “much more time off than before”, but third-year high school students still get one day off each weekend, alternate weekends off, or monthly breaks.

Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that in some regions, high schools have resumed single-day weekends, or are holding weekend classes under the guise of allowing students to come to school for self-study.

In fact, the two-day weekend that both students and office workers in China strove for was written into national policy as far back as 30 years ago. In 1995, then Chinese Premier Li Peng signed a State Council decree mandating a five-day work week, with employees working eight hours a day and 40 hours a week.

However, in recent years, the rise of the “996” work culture (working from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week) in China’s tech industry has led to widespread overtime, burnout and what has been described as “self-destructive” competition becoming the norm for workers. Although Chinese authorities declared the “996” schedule illegal in 2021, some companies still go by alternate single and two-day weekends.

In Zhao Qing’s view, landing a job with alternate weekends off is not bad. Many companies even include overtime hours in performance reviews: “You need to clock more than 40 hours of overtime a month just to avoid getting docked on performance.”

For businesses, implementing two-day weekends means higher labour costs. On the other hand, with this year’s record 12.22 million college graduates, employers are not worried about failing to hire people even if they only offer single-day weekends; job seekers are the ones worrying that they cannot find jobs if they insist on full weekends off.

Chang Chih-chung, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kainan University in Taiwan, said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that one major reason behind the Chinese government’s push for two-day weekends is overcapacity in certain industries, an issue that can no longer be ignored.

He noted that since last year’s Central Economic Work Conference, Chinese authorities have repeatedly emphasised the need to comprehensively address “involution-style” competition. Companies like DJI, Midea, and Haier have responded to this call by mandating end-of-day clock-outs and enforcing two-day weekends this year, as part of the broader effort to counter “involution”.

On the other hand, some companies are implementing two-day weekends out of necessity amid the intensifying US-China trade war. Chang said that with tariffs as high as 145%, Chinese exporters are struggling. In response, some enterprises have turned to reducing costs by scaling back production — for instance, some factories in Guangdong have opted for two-day weekends and reduced output.

Chang added that China’s industries have now entered a new phase — one that requires more leisure time and consumer activity. However, whether a culture of regular two-day weekends can take root ultimately depends on protecting and improving workers’ rights.

As for two-day weekends in schools, Chang believes this reflects an anti-involution mindset in education reform. But given the fierce competition in the college entrance exam (gaokao), he said it may be hard for Chinese parents to accept two-day weekends in the short term.

Xiong Bingqi said schools that have implemented two-day weekends are now facing scepticism from parents, who see it as neglecting students’ academic needs. The key to solving this issue, he said, is strictly enforcing two-day weekends across the board, to leave no room for negotiation or backsliding.

Chang said that while the policy goals are there, the benefits of two-day weekends may not align with public perception unless there are deeper structural changes in society. “But for a modern country, a two-day weekend policy should be the future direction.”

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “内卷难解 中国学生上班族苦求双休而不得”.

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