BEIJING, March 16 -- China is considering making some traditional festivals national holidays, sources with the National Tourism Administration have said.

Li Renzhi, an official with the administration said the State Council had recently instructed the National Development and Reform Commission to undertake cross-departmental research on the issue.

"The final decision on whether or not to adjust the holiday schedule will be made with the agreement of the 14 ministries that constitute the National Holiday Office," said Li, who is in charge of the office's daily affairs.

In recent years there have been an increasing number of calls for traditional festivals, such as Chinese New Year's Eve, the Qingming(Tomb Sweeping) Festival, Duanwu Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, to be classed as national holidays.

A survey conducted last month by www.sina.com, a major Chinese Internet portal, found that 98.48 percent of its visitors believe Chinese New Year's Eve should be made a national holiday. The seven-day holiday for the Spring Festival currently starts on Lunar New Year's Day.

Many of the participants in the poll complained that they didn't have enough time to clean their homes, do their shopping or prepare for the family reunion dinner the most important meal of the year as they have to work on New Year's Eve.

Zhao Guodu, associate professor with Sun Yat-sen University, said Lunar New Year's Eve should be made a national holiday to allow enough time for the nation's huge number of migrant workers to travel home.

On February 6, 10 popular newspapers jointly called for making Chinese New Year's Eve a national holiday.

(Source: China Daily)