How Chinese New Year affects the apparel industry globally
Chinese New Year
The date of Chinese New Year in the Gregorian calendar changes year-to-year, but always falls between January 21st and February 20th. The reason it changes every year is because it is based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is used for the dates of traditional activities in China, East Asia, and many Chinese and East Asian communities around the world.
Known as the Spring Festival locally, New Year is the most important holiday in China. Like Christmas/New Year in other countries, Chinese New Year is simply a much-needed winter holiday at an auspicious time. It is also traditionally just before the Spring, and this time is used to prepare for the coming harvest.
Year of the Rooster
Every year is dedicated to one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and 2017 is the year of the Rooster. According to Chinese tradition, the Rooster is the representative of confidence and intelligence. People who born in the years of the Rooster, usually share lots of common personality traits, such as being responsive, distinctive, smart and earnest.
Chinese New Year is a big deal, and roughly 20% of the world’s population observe the holiday in some form. That’s an astonishing number of people, spread across many different countries. In Indonesia alone, there are 250 million people who have an official day off work to celebrate! Add to that the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Korea amongst other countries, and you have millions of people celebrating before we even count China.
The global knock-on effect
The official holiday period in China for New Year is seven days, but traditionally lasts for three weeks. During this period, an estimated 200 million people will travel back home to their families, usually from the cities to rural areas. That’s an incredible 4% of the global population.
Production in China all but stops during this time, and of course this has a knock-on effect for business around the world. China is the world’s largest manufacturer, and when they stop manufacturing, everyone feels it. Those who have been in business long enough to know better are more prepared for New Year, and plan around it. Unfortunately, those who haven’t experienced this three week shut down, tend to not factor it into their business plan, and suffer financially as a result.
How we help our clients during this period
At Immago, we encourage our clients to place their orders in advance of Chinese New Year, but we also know that sometimes this isn’t possible. When this happens, we dedicate ourselves to working around the clock, to deliver on our promises and meet our clients’ deadlines.
One of our many strengths is our ability to turn orders around in record time, and we can often be found working right up to the day before Chinese New Year to deliver on an order. Even working at this pace, our quality, professionalism and commitment is never compromised.
We welcome the challenges our industry brings, and we thrive on the challenge the Chinese New Year presents.
If you are interested in our services, or would like to know more about how we can help your business, then please contact us today.
Our friendly and knowledgeable staff will be happy to help in any way they can.