The Chinese State Council recently announced that the Chinese New Year’s Eve, also known as “Chuxi,” will be reinstated as a statutory holiday. Last year, authorities canceled the New Year’s Eve holiday, sparking public dissatisfaction. Many speculated that the reason behind this was related to the homophonic similarity between “Chuxi” and “Chu Xi,” a subtle reference to the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. However, the reinstatement of the New Year’s Eve holiday by the Chinese State Council is seen by analysts as another signal of Xi Jinping’s declining power.
On November 12, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed a State Council decree issuing the “Decision of the State Council on Amending the National Holiday and Memorial Day Holiday Regulations,” which will come into effect from January 1, 2025. According to the regulation, Chinese nationals will have an additional 2 days of statutory holidays, including New Year’s Eve and May 2; the total number of statutory holidays for Chinese nationals will increase from 11 days to 13 days.
The annual holiday arrangements released by the Chinese authorities have always been a highly anticipated topic of public interest in China. Following the announcement of the New Year’s Eve holiday, discussions such as “New Year’s Eve will now be a holiday” quickly trended on Chinese social media, sparking widespread discussion.
New Year’s Eve, also known as Chinese New Year’s Eve or Lunar New Year’s Eve, is the day before the Chinese Lunar New Year, symbolizing the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. As the most important traditional festival for the Chinese people, on New Year’s Eve, family members rush back home from various places to reunite, enjoy a reunion dinner, and welcome the new year together. This is a moment many Chinese people eagerly anticipate throughout the year.
In 2007, the Chinese authorities included New Year’s Eve as a statutory holiday. However, after Xi Jinping took office in 2013, New Year’s Eve was removed from the list of statutory holidays, resulting in no holiday for New Year’s Eve in 2014. Starting from 2015, New Year’s Eve was once again part of the New Year holiday, including the period from 2016 to 2023.
In October 2023, the Chinese State Council issued a notice excluding New Year’s Eve from the statutory holidays for 2024, causing widespread discontent among the Chinese public. Topics such as “No holiday for New Year’s Eve” and “Has your workplace announced a holiday for New Year’s Eve?” surged to the top of search trends.
At the time, the Chinese authorities argued that although New Year’s Eve was not an official holiday, units and organizations could “flexibly arrange” according to actual circumstances, claiming that this adjustment “fully embodies the thoughtfulness and careful design of the policy makers.”
Many speculated that the reason behind the lack of holiday for New Year’s Eve may be related to the homophonic similarity between “Chuxi” and “Chu Xi,” indirectly referring to the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.
In January 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in Wuhan, Hubei Province, a prophetic saying circulating online at the Guiyuan Temple in Hanyang, Wuhan caught attention: “In the city of Jiang, the plague arises, on Duanwu, evil Xi is removed.” Subsequently, in 2022, similar phrases appeared: “In the Year of the Tiger, the epidemic will go, and all people remove evil Xi.” During the New Year’s Eve in 2023, there were suggestions online: “On New Year’s Eve, let’s all shout ‘Happy New Year’s Eve,'” which quickly sparked widespread discussions.
Political analyst Chen Pokong, currently residing in the United States, believes that the Chinese State Council’s reinstatement of New Year’s Eve as a statutory holiday is another new sign of Xi Jinping’s declining power.
On November 14, Chen Pokong told a reporter from Dajiyuan that traditionally, only ancient Chinese emperors had taboos. In recent years, especially after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping has dominated within the Chinese Communist Party, making crucial decisions. The Chinese authorities purposely excluded New Year’s Eve as a statutory holiday to avoid the homophonic association with “removing Xi,” causing strong dissatisfaction among the public. Despite the option for local governments and units to make adjustments, New Year’s Eve was not officially designated as a holiday.
Chen Pokong mentioned that after this year’s Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, Xi Jinping’s power has shown signs of weakening, with Li Keqiang reissuing the notice for New Year’s Eve as a holiday under the title of Premier of the State Council, further confirming Xi Jinping’s declining authority.
Political analyst Tang Jingyuan, in an interview with Dajiyuan, suggested that Xi Jinping’s supreme position within the Chinese Communist Party may have encountered a severe challenge.
Tang Jingyuan pointed out that although the Chinese Communist Party claims to be atheist, the top leaders since Mao Zedong have always believed in various taboos. For example, the late party leader Jiang Zemin never set foot in “Zhenjiang” during his lifetime, and Xi Jinping prohibited designating New Year’s Eve as a statutory holiday. However, this decision has sparked strong backlash among the public, despite the authorities choosing to ignore it. Li Keqiang’s announcement of New Year’s Eve as a holiday indirectly signals a major shift in Xi Jinping’s power.
Tang Jingyuan further commented that in general, the taboos of the Chinese Communist Party leaders are not easily altered unless there is a significant shake-up in their power status. As a result, changes in these taboos often become indicators or observation windows for outsiders to observe the internal power dynamics or status changes within the Chinese Communist Party.
Since the convening of the 20th Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party in July of this year, there have been signs of Xi Jinping’s power being weakened. Recently, Xi Jinping has consecutively been absent from multiple important military meetings, with Deputy Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia taking charge. In October, during Zhang Youxia’s visit to Vietnam, he not only received a high-profile red carpet reception but also held a meeting of extraordinary significance with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the President, and the Prime Minister.
Earlier, Tang Jingyuan told Dajiyuan that Zhang Youxia’s visit to Vietnam has to some extent semi-publicly indicated that Xi Jinping’s power within the Chinese military has been replaced by Zhang. This signal not only suggests that Xi Jinping’s military authority has waned but also potentially indicates that the Chinese authorities, following a significant turn in Xi Jinping’s power, are gradually releasing messages about his altered status to the outside world.