CNY Extended Shutdown in Hong Kong: Deadline Planning Guide
For many Hong Kong businesses, Lunar New Year is the longest continuous non-working period of the year. Three General Holidays plus surrounding weekends and widespread office closures can create a block of 5–9 non-working days in practice, depending on how the dates fall.
Most deadline errors around CNY happen not because the rules are complicated, but because teams calculate before confirming whether the shutdown period applies.
The three General Holidays
Under the General Holidays Ordinance (Cap. 149), the CNY holidays are:
- Lunar New Year's Day
- Second day of Lunar New Year
- Third day of Lunar New Year
If any of these three days falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of Lunar New Year is designated as the substitute holiday.
CNY dates through 2030
Lunar New Year shifts by up to 19 days each year. Here are the key dates:
| Year | LNY Day 1 | Day | Days 1–3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 17 Feb | Tue | 17–19 Feb (Tue–Thu) |
| 2027 | 6 Feb | Sat | 6–8 Feb (Sat–Mon) |
| 2028 | 26 Jan | Wed | 26–28 Jan (Wed–Fri) |
| 2029 | 13 Feb | Tue | 13–15 Feb (Tue–Thu) |
| 2030 | 3 Feb | Tue | 3–5 Feb (Tue–Thu) |
What the CNY Extended Shutdown covers
Many Hong Kong businesses — particularly in construction, manufacturing, and trade — observe an extended shutdown beyond the three General Holidays. A common pattern runs from Lunar New Year's Eve through Day 7 — effectively the eve plus the first full week.
This extended shutdown is not a statutory requirement. It is not mandated by the General Holidays Ordinance, nor is it automatically included in standard government or private building contracts. It is an entrenched industry convention, driven primarily by labour migration patterns (many workers travel to Mainland China) and practical site management realities. Individual contracts may incorporate it through Special Conditions or Particular Conditions, but it is not universal.
In the HK calculator, the CNY Extended Shutdown option models this extended closure window, excluding the entire block from working-day counts. Use it when your contract or business practice recognises the extended period — leave it off when only the three General Holidays apply.
2026 worked example
With LNY Day 1 on Tuesday 17 February:
- LNY Eve: Monday 16 February
- General Holidays: Tuesday 17 – Thursday 19 February
- Extended shutdown window: Monday 16 Feb through Monday 23 Feb (Eve through Day 7)
If you need to count 10 working days from Monday 9 February 2026:
| Shutdown assumption | Result date | Why |
|---|---|---|
| No shutdown (holidays only) | 23 Feb (Mon) | Skips 17–19 Feb (holidays) and weekends |
| CNY Extended Shutdown | 27 Feb (Fri) | Also excludes 16 Feb (Eve) and 20–23 Feb (extended closure) |
That is a 4-day difference from the same start date. For a legal or financial deadline, this gap matters.
When to run two scenarios
Use dual-scenario checks when:
- The deadline falls within two weeks of Lunar New Year
- The date has legal or financial consequences
- The timeline feeds into another downstream deadline
- You are handing over to a counterparty who may use different shutdown assumptions
Running the same calculation under both "No Shutdown" and "CNY Extended Shutdown" takes seconds and shows you the sensitivity before dates are locked.
Which deadlines are affected
Different deadline types handle the CNY period differently:
- Employment notice periods: Counted in calendar days under Cap. 57. CNY holidays are included in the count — the notice does not pause.
- Stamp duty: The 30-day stamping deadline runs in calendar days. CNY does not pause it.
- Conveyancing working-day deadlines: These exclude General Holidays, so the three CNY holidays are already excluded. Whether the extended shutdown also applies depends on the contract terms.
- MPF contributions: The 10th-of-month deadline shifts to the next business day if it falls during the CNY holiday period.
- Court filings: Registries close on General Holidays. Electronic filings during closure are deemed received on reopening.
Documentation habit that saves time
Add one line to your handover note:
Method: working days | Shutdown: CNY Extended Shutdown | Holiday set: HK 2026
That single line prevents most replay and debug cycles later, because anyone reviewing the calculation can see the assumptions immediately.
Why consistency matters more than complexity
The real value of modelling the CNY shutdown is not precision — it is consistency. Two people using the same method with the same shutdown assumption will get the same answer. Two people using different assumptions will not, even if both are reasonable.
Pick an assumption, document it, and apply it uniformly across the timeline. That is what keeps deadline dates dependable.
For step-by-step scenarios, see the Use Cases. For calculator configuration details, see the Info Guide.