People dine at a restaurant in Meishan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 24, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

To comprehensively enhance residents' consumption capacity and market vitality, the city of Mianyang in Southwest China's Sichuan Province has proposed piloting a 4.5-day flexible workweek system, encouraging eligible regions to implement a "Friday afternoon plus weekend" 2.5-day leave model.

The Mianyang Municipal Commerce Bureau recently issued the 2025 work plan for the city's consumption revitalization initiative, proposing seven core actions comprising 29 specific measures to enhance local residents' consumption capacity and market vitality, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The sixth action focuses on the optimization of consumption environments with the implementation of leave initiatives, said the report.

Relevant departments are asked to ensure full implementation of annual leave and paid leave systems, encourage flexible scheduling for companies and promote simultaneous leaves for couples, Xinhua reported.

Notably, the plan also advocates for a 4.5-day flexible workweek and encourages eligible regions to adopt a "Friday afternoon plus weekend" 2.5-day leave model, per Xinhua.

An official from the Mianyang Municipal Commerce Bureau, who requested to remain anonymous, told the Global Times on Monday that, as the lead authority for consumption promotion, the bureau proposed the model as an exploratory initiative under the framework of implementing central and provincial government policies to boost consumption.

The proposal quickly became a trending topic on social media platform Sina Weibo, generating 210 million views and 55,000 discussions by 1 pm Monday. Many netizens expressed hopes for province-wide implementation.

A Mianyang resident surnamed Yang told the Global Times that extended weekends would allow more leisurely travel. "It takes about five hours to drive from Mianyang to the Siguniang Mountain scenic area, which is equivalent to half a day," noting that an extra half day would mean the sightseeing time wouldn't be so rushed, and they could better enjoy the local scenery.

A Chengdu-based employee surnamed Xu, whose child currently lives in Mianyang, said that he currently drives to Mianyang every Saturday morning and returns to Chengdu Sunday afternoon, adding that, excluding travel time, he and his wife only have about a day to spend with their child.

"The time is really short, just when we start to get close to our child, we have to head back," Xu said, expressing a strong hope that this initiative can be further implemented, so that he can spend more time with his child.

However, some netizens question the practical implementation of this initiative, wondering whether it will be put into effect and whether implementing this initiative in some public service institutions would cause an inconvenience.

The official from the bureau clarified that the specific implementation rules for the 2.5-day weekend leave have not yet been introduced. 

"We need to combine specific circumstances and conduct discussions and research with other departments," the official noted.

The 2.5-day weekend initiative is not novel in China. Over the past years, more than 10 provinces including North China's Hebei Province, East China's Jiangxi Province and Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have proposed similar initiatives, China Central Television (CCTV) News reported.

According to the report, Longnan in Gansu Province also encouraged that all administrative and public institutions should facilitate Friday afternoon leave for officials and employees after essential services, provided they complete required working hours through schedule adjustments, CCTV News reported.

Professor Yang Haiyang, dean of the Research Institute of Social Development at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said that reducing working hours is an inevitable trend of social and economic development and civilizational progress, but its promotion needs to be combined with practical conditions to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach, according to the People's Daily.