China Golden Week holidays: impact on operations

China celebrates its National Day on October 1, followed by official public holidays from October 1 to 3. However, it is a common local practice to have a week-long holiday. Production sites in China may stop operations earlier, or resume work later than the official holidays, especially this year when the mid-autumn festival, taking place on September 24, falls close to the National Day.

Most of the sea freight carriers announced blank sailings not only during the Golden Week period but also before and after the holidays to adjust their services in accordance with the weak market demand. Therefore, the current market situation for the trade lanes Far East-Europe as well as Far East-Americas are both challenging with limited space available. Reasons are not only the pre-holiday cargo rush but also delayed operations due to recent storms hitting the China coasts. Some carriers have been establishing additional blank sailings since week 38. The normal sailing schedule is expected to resume in week 42. For blank sailing updates on particular routes, please contact your DACHSER representative.

The Chinese customs will not accept importing clearance during the holidays. Therefore, import shipments cannot be handled on time from September 29 to October 7.
For export shipments, it is suggested sending bookings or instructions as early as possible before the Golden Week. Air freight space will be very tight and shipping equipment will be in great demand during the pre-holiday period.

DACHSER branches in China will be closed from October 1 to 7. The sea freight department at DACHSER Shenzhen branch will be operating with limited service on October 4 and 5; all further DACHSER branches in China will not be in operation until October 8. Air freight departments in most of the China branches will be under operation with limited staffing. Only shipments with pre-booking notice will be handled.