China extends Chinese New Year Holiday to Curb Spread of Coronavirus

The Chinese government announced today that nationwide the Lunar New Year Holiday has been extended until February 2nd making the first available working day February 3rd.

While this is an announcement from the Beijing leadership, they gave provincial (state) governments the discretion to extend and modify the proclamation, as needed.

Shanghai province, for instance, today announced an extension of the holiday until February 9th. Per a Reuters article shared with us by our Hong Kong partner but not available in English, the primary focus of the Chinese government’s efforts are on ensuring the availability of utilities, medical supplies and the operation of health care services.

For cargo, vehicle movements are being impacted as all conveyances traveling on intercity highways and roadways into Shanghai must stop for inspection and a health check of the driver and any passengers until further notice. The information is also being recorded and body temperatures of vehicle occupants measured.

As this announcement was just made today, it is too early to determine what the planned impact will be on customs, airlines, carriers, port operations and everyone involved in the supply chain for both air and sea cargo. What we do know is that given Shanghai’s status as an arrival and departure gateway for so much air and sea cargo, there will inevitably be delays as factories re-open following holiday closures.

China recognizes how highly contagious and dangerous this virus is. The goal of the government during this health emergency is to keep the virus from spreading, which means reducing large gatherings of people where transmission from human to human is a risk. Understandably, factories that employ hundreds or thousands of people in close quarters is one vector the government is trying to close off to prevent transmission.

We strongly encourage our customers to speak with their factories directly because they will have access to the most current information impacting their workforces.

TOC will continue to monitor news country-wide in China as well as whatever provincial or local steps are taken that would impact manufacturing and shipping. Please continue to reach out to your primary TOC points of contact as we will be communicating information throughout all levels of the company.