Current Time in China
China has one official time zone.
Page text updated Nov 5, 2026. Clock values are computed from the IANA time zone database each time the page is generated (at least hourly). Holiday and country reference data come from snapshots that are refreshed manually.
What time is it in China
It's 11:29 PM CST (UTC+08:00) in China on Thursday, 5 November 2026.
China does not use daylight saving time; it stays on UTC+8 all year.
All of mainland China officially keeps Beijing Time (China Standard Time, UTC+8). In Xinjiang many residents also use an unofficial local time two hours behind (UTC+6), which the IANA database records as Asia/Urumqi.
- Time zone
- China Standard Time
- IANA: Asia/Shanghai
- UTC offset now
- UTC+08:00 (CST)
- Clock changes
- No clock changes: UTC+8 all year.
Times in this text are from when the page was generated (it is regenerated at least hourly). The clocks below update live.
Major Cities
Shanghai
Beijing
Shenzhen
Guangzhou
How China writes dates and times
- Date format
- YYYY/MM/DD
- year-month-day, e.g. 2026/11/25 · 2026年11月25日
- Clock
- 24-hour
- e.g. 15:30
- Week starts on
- Monday
- Weekend: Saturday and Sunday
- Calendar
- Gregorian
Formats are the Unicode CLDR conventions for the zh-CN locale, the everyday written standard; individual organisations may differ.
Time facts about China
- China spans roughly five geographic time zones but has used one official time, Beijing Time (UTC+8), since 1949. Source: Wikipedia
- In Xinjiang, an unofficial Xinjiang Time (UTC+6) is widely used locally, while government offices, railways and airports mainly follow Beijing Time. Source: Wikipedia
- In Ürümqi mean solar noon falls around 14:10 Beijing Time, more than two hours after clock noon. Source: Wikipedia
- Public holidays are stitched into long breaks by moving weekend days: in 2026 the 1–7 October National Day break was offset by working Sunday 20 September and Saturday 10 October. Source: china-briefing.com
Public holidays in China
The public holiday data this site uses does not yet include Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) for China, so no holiday list is shown here rather than an incomplete one. Check the official government calendar for exact dates.
Time difference from China
Workday overlap compares 09:00–17:00 on both sides at today's offsets, shown in China time.
| City | Local time | Difference | Workday overlap |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | Thu 3:29 PM | 8 h behind | None |
| New York | Thu 10:29 AM | 13 h behind | None |
| Los Angeles | Thu 7:29 AM | 16 h behind | None |
| Dubai | Thu 7:29 PM | 4 h behind | 4 h (13:00–17:00) |
| Singapore | Thu 11:29 PM | Same time | 8 h (09:00–17:00) |
| Tokyo | Fri 12:29 AM | 1 h ahead | 7 h (09:00–16:00) |
| Sydney | Fri 2:29 AM | 3 h ahead | 5 h (09:00–14:00) |
| São Paulo | Thu 12:29 PM | 11 h behind | None |
China at a glance
- Capital
- Beijing
- Population
- 1,408,280,000
- Currency
- Chinese yuan (CNY)
Questions about time in China
- What time is it in China right now?
- When this page was generated it was 11:29 PM CST (UTC+08:00) in China.
- How many time zones does China have?
- China has one official time zone. All of mainland China officially keeps Beijing Time (China Standard Time, UTC+8). In Xinjiang many residents also use an unofficial local time two hours behind (UTC+6), which the IANA database records as Asia/Urumqi.
- Does China observe daylight saving time?
- No. China does not use daylight saving time; it stays on UTC+8 all year.