The State Council on Friday approved in principle a draft plan on adjusting its national holidays and a set of regulations on paid vacations.

The final plan and regulations will be promulgated after further revisions.

According to the draft plan on national holidays, made public in early November for public discussion, three traditional festivals are added as national holidays.

According to the draft plan, New Year's Day remains a one-day holiday. The Spring Festival remains a three-day holiday, but it will now start a day earlier from the eve of the Spring Festival, also known as the lunar New Year.

The National Day golden week will remain unchanged.

The May Day golden week will be replaced by a one-day holiday.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Dragon-Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival shall all become one-day national holidays.

The proposal will increase the number of legal national holidays from 10 to 11 days.

The tradition of designating weekends on one side of the three main holidays as two working days still continues, so people enjoy seven consecutive days off. In future, New Year's Day, Tomb-Sweeping Day, May Day, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival will become holidays of three days each.

According to the draft regulations on paid vacations, also made public in early November for public discussion, all employees of government organs, civil organizations, enterprises, and public-service institutions are entitled to take paid vacation after serving the same employer for one year.

Employees who have worked from one to ten years would have five days paid vacation; those who have worked for ten to 20 years would have ten days; and those with more than 20 years 15 days. Legal holidays and weekends will not be included as paid vacation.

However, the paid vacation time would be deducted from winter and summer vacations, which some professions were entitled to.

They shall also be deducted from vacations designed for employees to visit their parents or spouses, if they are not living in the same city, according to the draft.

The draft stipulates that "employees should enjoy their full daily salary and welfare during the vacation just as when they are working".

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2007)