(Yicai Global) Jan. 13 -- Many Chinese businesses are setting their vacation dates for the upcoming week-long Chinese New Year break depending on the amount of orders they have despite local governments urging workers not to return to their home towns in a bid to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Dunan Controls & Technology Holding is encouraging its employees to work over the public holiday, which runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 this year, because the Chinese valve maker has more orders than it did the same time last year, Board Secretary Chen Yuyan told Yicai Global.

Last year, the Zhuji, southeastern Zhejiang-based company doubled the salaries of those who did not return to their hometowns, spending over CNY1 million (USD157,267). Seventy percent of production lines were back in operation on the third day of the holiday then. This year they plan to roll out even better incentives, Chen said.

“So far, about 30 percent of our staff who come from other areas of the country have decided to stay on during the Spring Festival,” he added.

The lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 1 this year, is an important occasion for family reunions in China and festivities can last for 40 days around this date.

Normally the time of the world’s biggest human migration, many Chinese municipalities including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Nanjing are calling on residents not to travel during the Spring Festival unless there is an emergency.

Tingmei Chuangzhi Clothing, by contrast, has already shut for the holidays, Director Fang Yuxing told Yical Global. This is the earliest the firm have started the Chinese New Year vacation in 17 years of operations. Last year around one third of employees stayed at the factory as orders were piling up rapidly, he added.

Soaring shipping fees have resulted in much fewer orders than last year, Fang said. The Tonglu, Zhejiang province-based firm is also under pressure to repay a CNY7 million (USD1.1 million) loan it took out to upgrade its equipment.

The garment maker has CNY20 million (USD3.1 million) worth of clothing in storage that has yet to be delivered because of high shipping costs, Fang said. Buyers are waiting for the transport costs to come down before they ship the products otherwise they will make no profit.

Tingmei will turn to focus more on domestic clients this year and will increase the proportion of China sales to 40 percent, Fang said.

Xuzhou Healthland Sauna Equipment, on the other hand, needs to stay open until a week before the Spring Festival in order to meet demand, Deputy General Manager Li Yanting said. Orders for sauna rooms have grown 15 percent from the same period last year as winter is peak season.

Cities in Zhejiang are being very pro-active in encouraging migrant workers to stay put. Shaoxing is giving away ‘red packets,’ a traditional form of gifting money, of up to CNY1,000 (USD157) to every employee who does not have a household registration in the city and who chooses not to travel home for the break. Ningbo is paying workers CNY100 per day up to a maximum of CNY500. Hangzhou is offering CNY600 per non-resident employee and Jinhua CNY800 each.

Editor: Kim Taylor