Current Time and Day in China: Find Out the Exact Local Time

China uses China Standard Time (UTC+8) across the whole country, with no daylight saving time.

Time zone

All of China uses China Standard Time (CST), UTC+8. There is a single time zone, set by Beijing.

Daylight saving

China does not observe it (abandoned in 1991).

Compared with US

Beijing is 13 hours ahead of New York in winter and 12 hours ahead in summer.

Note

Xinjiang unofficially uses Xinjiang Time (UTC+6) in some places.

Single time zone

All of mainland China uses one time zone: China Standard Time (CST), UTC plus 8. The country spans about five geographic time zones, but Beijing time applies everywhere since 1949. In the far west, in Xinjiang, many locals use an unofficial “Xinjiang time” two hours behind Beijing (UTC plus 6).

No daylight saving

China does not observe daylight saving time. It briefly used it from 1986 to 1991.

Compared with the US

When it is 12:00 noon in Beijing, it is:

• 11:00 p.m. the previous day in New York in winter (13 hours behind), or 12:00 midnight in summer (12 hours behind).
• 8:00 p.m. the previous day in Los Angeles in winter (16 hours), or 9:00 p.m. in summer (15 hours).

Same offset as

Singapore, Perth in Western Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau all use UTC plus 8.

Business hours

Offices commonly work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a lunch break of 1 to 2 hours. Banks and government offices follow similar hours. The workweek is Monday to Friday, with holidays such as Chinese New Year (a week long break) and National Day (October 1, a week long Golden Week).

Date format

China writes dates in year, month, day order, such as 2025-03-15.

Meetings

Schedule calls with the US in the evening for US East coast and morning for China, or early morning in the US for China’s evening.

Tools

World clock and calendar apps adjust offsets automatically.

Time zone history and practice

China spans about five geographic time zones but uses one official time, China Standard Time (UTC plus 8), also called Beijing Time. The unified time was adopted in 1949. As a result, in far western Xinjiang the sun can rise at around 10 a.m. clock time, and some residents informally use Xinjiang Time (UTC plus 6) in daily life. China has no daylight saving time since 1991.

Conversions

When it is 9 a.m. in Beijing it is 8 p.m. the previous day in New York in winter (13 hours behind), 6 p.m. the previous day in Los Angeles (16 hours behind) and 1 a.m. in London in winter (8 hours behind). Singapore, Perth, Taipei, Manila and Hong Kong share the same UTC plus 8 offset. Chinese official working hours are typically 9 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m., with a lunch break often extending to 1 or 2 hours.

Based on data from the National Time Service Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the IANA Time Zone Database