Time in China 🇨🇳
The current local time in China is anchored on Beijing (Asia/Shanghai, UTC +08:00 · GMT+8).
Beijing local time
Monday, 12 October 2026 GMT+8
China at a glance
- Capital
- Beijing
- ISO codes
- CN · CHN
- Clocks in use today
- One time zone
- tz database zones
- 2
- Dialing code
- +86
- Currency
- Chinese Yuan (CNY)
- Work week
- Monday to Friday
- Weekend
- Saturday and Sunday
- Drives on the
- Right
Time zones in China
All of China keeps the same clock, UTC +08:00, all year with no daylight saving time. The IANA tz database lists 2 zone identifiers for China; most exist only because their local clocks differed at some point in the past.
| Zone | Standard | Daylight saving | Clock changes 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
Asia/Shanghai · Shanghai | UTC +08:00 | — | None |
Beijing vs. major cities
How far Beijing is from the world's main business centres right now, what time it is there when the working day starts in Beijing, and which hours of a 09:00–17:00 day the two places share. Daylight saving changes are applied automatically.
| City | Difference | At 09:00 in Beijing | Shared office hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York · United States | −12 h | 21:00 (prev. day) | None |
| Los Angeles · United States | −15 h | 18:00 (prev. day) | None |
| São Paulo · Brazil | −11 h | 22:00 (prev. day) | None |
| London · United Kingdom | −7 h | 02:00 | 16:00–17:00 |
| Paris · France | −6 h | 03:00 | 15:00–17:00 |
| Johannesburg · South Africa | −6 h | 03:00 | 15:00–17:00 |
| Dubai · United Arab Emirates | −4 h | 05:00 | 13:00–17:00 |
| Delhi · India | −2:30 h | 06:30 | 11:30–17:00 |
| Singapore · Singapore | Same time | 09:00 | 09:00–17:00 |
| Tokyo · Japan | +1 h | 10:00 | 09:00–16:00 |
Shared office hours are shown in Beijing time. Compare any set of cities hour by hour in the time zone converter, or pick a slot that suits everyone with the event planner.
Clock changes in Beijing
Since 1970, Beijing has gone through 3 distinct time-keeping periods, observing daylight saving time in 6 of 57 years. Since 1992 it has stayed on UTC +08:00 all year.
No clock changes are scheduled in 2026 or 2027: Beijing stays on UTC +08:00 all year.
Time zone history since 1970 (3 periods)
| Years | Offset | Daylight saving |
|---|---|---|
| 1970–1985 | UTC +08:00 all year | No daylight saving time |
| 1986–1991 | UTC +08:00, DST UTC +09:00 | Daylight saving dates varied from year to year |
| 1992–2026 | UTC +08:00 all year | No daylight saving time |
Source: IANA tz database, as shipped with the Unicode ICU library.
Explore China
Go deeper on China: capital time, regions, sunrise times, weather, and public holidays.