中國兩座城市正式實行週末2.5天休假

government employees in two Chinese cities can now enjoy 2.5 days' weekly leave, twice a month, starting from April 1.

中國兩座城市的機關事業單位工作人員自4月1日起，每月可以享受兩次2.5天的週末。

Jinzhong in north China's Shanxi Province and Ji'an in east China's Jiangxi Province, are the first in China to adopt a new policy which encourages people to take Friday afternoons off to make a longer weekend.

中國北部的山西省晉中市和中國東部的江西省吉安市成爲全國第一批採取這一新政策的城市。該新政策鼓勵人們每週五下午休息，從而擁有一個較長的週末假期。

The change comes after the central government issued a document on promoting tourism, which called on local authorities to allow flexible work schedules to give employees more weekend vacation time.

這一轉變是在中央政府出臺促進旅遊業發展的文件後開始的。該文件呼籲當地政府允許彈性工作計劃，讓員工有更多的週末假期。

Giving further details, the National Tourism Administration said the 2.5 days weekly leave policy would not involve a cut in working hours, as time could be made up on other days, guaranteeing a 40-hour working week.

國家旅遊局進一步解釋稱，2.5天的休假政策將不會使得工作時間減少，因爲其他工作日的時間可以用來彌補並保證每週40小時的工作時間。

The new policy applies to people working for government departments as well as some public institutions.

據悉，這項新政策適用於在政府部門工作的人員，也適用於一些事業單位。

The local authorities in Jinzhong and Ji'an have promised the new system won't affect the availability of their services for the public on Friday afternoons.

晉中和吉安兩市的地方政府已經承諾，新政策的實施不會影響到週五下午公衆服務的可用性。