UPDATE – China extends Lunar New Year holidays to
contain coronavirus outbreak – updated Jan 30, 2020
Update: the Chinese government has extended CNY holidays in China, in order to help keep people safe and contain the coronavirus. A few additional China Cities/Provinces, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, have extended their earliest permissible dates for businesses to resume operations. The General Office of the State Council said in its announcement that the measure is taken to effectively reduce mass gatherings, block the spread of the epidemic, and to better safeguard the safety and health of the people.
All businesses, including our industry, are mandatorily required to obey the posted closings (below).
Our origin offices in China will resume operations as follows:
- February 10 – Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Qingdao
- February 3 – the remainder of China not listed above
Please note that the above list is subject to change according to government announcements that may follow.
In order to minimize operational impact, within reason (whilst keeping in mind the containment of virus outbreak), we have limited staff working from home to attend to bookings / urgent issues where required. This arrangement applies to locations that will remain closed next week. Please note, however, that many companies, such as shippers, are simply remaining closed until the dates listed above, so gathering information and documents is difficult.
Our team in Taiwan resumed work today (January 30), and Hong Kong resumed operations yesterday (January 29), with special arrangements to minimize exposure to the virus (e.g. staff to work from home or flexible hours in office for remainder of this week).
Your understanding and patience is appreciated.
Please contact your BOC Representative if you have questions.
