996” Work Culture & Almost No Vacation Is Destroying China

According to official data, the average annual working hours in China are around 2,100 hours. But that’s just the legal and statistical average. In reality—especially in internet companies (think of the "996" work culture), manufacturing, and gig economy jobs—the actual working hours often exceed 2,500 hours per year.

Even though China’s official workweek is 40 hours, plus mandatory national holidays, in theory the total working time shouldn’t be too high. But in practice, because of:

widespread, unregulated overtime,
weak enforcement of labor laws,
and cultural pressure that glorifies overworking,
China ranks among the top countries globally for actual working hours.