How to Prepare Your Business for the Chinese New Year Shutdown in 2026?

The Spring Festival, widely known as the Chinese New Year, is the most significant holiday in China. It’s a time for Chinese families to reunite and exchange best wishes for the upcoming lunar New Year. Typically, the holiday lasts 10 to 15 days, during which office workers begin taking gradual leaves, manufacturers halt production early, and shipping companies limit their operations.

In 2026, the Chinese New Year falls immediately after Valentine’s Day, spanning February 15–23. This means the Valentine’s Day sales period coincides with the Chinese New Year holiday. Potential challenges may include product supply shortages, shipping and delivery delays, communication inefficiencies, and slower after-sales service.

So, how can you avoid product shortages and shipping delays during the holiday shutdown? How can you minimize the impact and ensure your store performs well in 2026? In this article, we will explore the potential effects of the Chinese New Year 2026 on your dropshipping business and provide practical strategies to help you prevent supply chain disruptions as much as possible.

How Will The Chinese New Year Affect Your Business?

The Chinese New Year shutdown primarily affects dropshipping businesses and companies that source most of their products from China. To be fully prepared, it is crucial to understand what these shutdowns entail and how they can impact your business through the supply chain.

Product Supply Shortages

As the Spring Festival approaches, suppliers and manufacturers in China are typically the first to halt operations. By late January, overall production in the country begins to slow down. Most manufacturers gradually shut down and will not resume supply until the end of February. During this extended period, businesses face the risk of product shortages and stockouts, which can have a significant impact on operations and revenue. 

If you do not communicate with your supplier about your sales plans and stock up on sufficient inventory in advance, once the supplier or manufacturer of your product shuts down, finding a replacement during the CNY holidays can be really hard.

Shipping and Delivery Delays

As the Chinese New Year approaches, most logistics begin to scale back operations. A few days before the Spring Festival, many carriers stop accepting parcels and suspend shipping and delivery services. Operations typically do not resume until after the holiday, with only a limited number of logistics providers continuing to operate during this period.

As a result, shipping and delivery times may be affected in the weeks leading up to the holiday, and shipping costs often increase toward the end of the year. To ensure timely delivery during the holiday period, dropshippers may need to switch to alternative shipping methods that remain available, which are usually more expensive than standard options.

Slow Supply Recovery After the Holidays

After the Spring Festival, most employees return to work, and manufacturers gradually resume production. However, short-term labor shortages may still occur.

On the one hand, some workers do not return after the holiday and instead seek new job opportunities, forcing manufacturers to recruit and train new staff. On the other hand, factories must process a large backlog of orders accumulated during the shutdown, which can further extend overall production and delivery timelines.

Increased Quality Issues

Before the holidays, some manufacturers will rush to work to take leave early. And after the holidays, they will hire new employees, who will then replace the skilled employees. All these factors may lead to an increase in product quality issues. 

To prevent your customers from receiving substandard products, it is crucial to ask your dropshipping suppliers to strengthen product quality inspections before and after the Spring Festival.

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Chinese New Year ShutDown Timeline 2026

Suppliers and manufacturers often reduce output or temporarily suspend production ahead of the holiday period. However, the specific shutdown time varies. It is recommended to ask your suppliers or manufacturers about when they will stop supplying and plan if necessary. You can first refer to the following Chinese New Year timelines of 2026:

• Late January: Supplier production may slow down, leading to longer response times.
• Early February: Factories gradually halt production; new orders may experience delays.
• February 14: Valentine’s Day, a peak season for cross-border e-commerce. Yet, with the Chinese New Year approaching, factories are already winding down operations, reducing the efficiency of inventory replenishment and restocking.
• February 15-23: Chinese New Year holiday. The domestic factories and suppliers are fully closed. Shipping channels are limited, and order processing and fulfillment may be delayed.
• February 16: Chinese New Year’s Eve, almost all employees start their holiday.
• February 17: Chinese New Year.
• February 24: Most employees return to work, and logistics and shipping channels gradually resume.
• Late February: Most manufacturers resume production.
• Early March: Almost all operations return to normal.

What Should You Prepare Now?

With the uncertainties and force majeure factors, what preparations can you make now to avoid or minimize the potential impact of the Chinese New Year shutdown on your supply chains? Based on our experiences, we have summarized the following tips for you.

Plan Early

A comprehensive plan is necessary to ensure your business is well-positioned for the next two months. It includes your marketing plans, sales plans for your products, inventory planning, and other contingency plans to address emergencies. 

Consider reducing your advertising budget appropriately during the Spring Festival to avoid sudden order volume increases that may lead to stockouts and delivery delays. It is recommended to plan and prepare an inventory of products based on your estimated sales volume for at least one month in advance. 

Communicate with Your Dropshipping Supplier

Maintaining close communication with your supplier can help you respond to shortages, delays, or other potential problems during the Spring Festival in a more timely manner. The first thing you should do with your supplier now is to confirm the available inventory and shutdown time of the product manufacturer. If your products are already out of stock and you have stopped production, then you should look for alternatives as soon as possible!

At this time, working with private suppliers will be risky as they usually stop accepting orders early before holidays. It is recommended to work with trustworthy China sourcing agent platforms, such as SourcinBox, which have extensive experience in dealing with Chinese New Year shutdowns.

If you are currently working with SourcinBox, it’s time to communicate with your customer manager about your sales plan and inventory needs. And don’t be too stressed out about product shortages; there’s still a chance we can help you find alternative manufacturers to save your business. To be sure, it's a good idea to plan your inventory orders.

Prepare Inventory in Advance

If you have a sufficient budget, you can purchase an appropriate amount of products in advance from the manufacturer as inventory. And finding a sourcing agent who can hold inventory for you in China during the CNY shutdown will be necessary. Remember that your inventory planning should include both your current products and what you plan to sell in February (after the Spring Festival).

For SourcinBox users, after confirming with your customer manager, you can then easily pre-purchase the inventory you need on our app. We will source the corresponding quantity of products from the manufacturer and store them in our warehouse for free after verifying their quality. Our warehouse will remain operational until the last minute before the holidays to process your orders. We will resume work early to ensure the timely shipping as soon as possible after the holidays end.

Consider Alternative Shipping Options

Most shipping companies will only take a brief break for the Spring Festival to cope with the continuous demand for orders. Since there may be manpower shortages before and after the holidays, the shipping capacity will be limited. It is recommended to consider alternative shipping options and allocate a larger budget for shipping, as this is crucial for avoiding delays and establishing trust with your customers.

On SourcinBox, cost-effective shipping options will still be available during the holidays. You can stay in touch with your customer manager to learn about the shipping methods available as the holidays approach and make any necessary adjustments.

Strengthen Your Customer Support

During the special period of the Chinese New Year shutdown, it greatly counts to strengthen customer service. When facing increasing customer issues, timely and effective solutions can reduce bad reviews and refunds at the root, as well as increase store credibility. Additionally, you can provide clear return and refund policies and after-sales support contact information in the store to promptly address customer problems on time and enhance customer satisfaction and retention.

Of course, keep a close eye on the status of your orders by keeping in close contact with your suppliers. Provide timely feedback to your customers for out-of-stock and shipping delays. For unavoidable situations, remember to change the inventory information, shipping method, and delivery timeliness displayed in your store in advance. Sending a notification via email or social media to your customers with a sincere apology can win you more favor.

Let SourcinBox Take Care of Your Supply Chain

In preparing for potential problems during the Chinese New Year 2026, please keep in touch with your customer manager for timely solutions. You can also keep an eye out for our latest notifications on various platforms, which will be updated with the latest information. We'll respond to you as soon as possible and help out with any concerning issues, even during the holidays. 

We sincerely hope this article can assist businesses sourcing from China. Planning can effectively avoid possible losses caused by supply chain disruptions and shipping delays. If you’re interested in working with SourcinBox and purchasing inventory now, please sign up for free and contact us to enjoy our 1-on-1 customer manager service. We will do our best to escort your business during the Chinese New Year.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does the Chinese New Year affect international shipping?

Yes. Shipping may be temporarily delayed during the Chinese New Year.

2. Does shipping stop during the Chinese New Year​?

Most logistics providers suspend shipping during the Chinese New Year holiday. SourcinBox will share updates on holiday shipping schedules through in-app notifications as well as on our social media channels, including Instagram and Facebook. Please stay tuned for the latest information.

3. When should I start stocking inventory?

In 2026, Valentine’s Day falls right before the Chinese New Year, which means the window for inventory preparation will be very tight. We recommend starting your inventory planning and stocking as early as possible to avoid disruptions caused by the Chinese New Year shutdowns.