Time Zones in China
China spans one time zone (UTC+8) among the 5 cities tracked on Live Time Map. None of them observe daylight saving time, so their offsets stay the same all year. See the live local time for each city below, or use the interactive map to compare any of them against your own location.
China facts
- Currency
- Renminbi (CNY)
- Languages
- Mandarin Chinese
- Calling code
- +86
- Time zones on this site
- 1
Clock time and solar time in China
A country's clocks are a political choice, not an astronomical one, so they rarely line up with its own sun. Measured against local solar time, the clock in Chongqing runs 54 minutes ahead of the sun, while in Shanghai it runs 6 minutes behind the sun.
That is a spread of 1 hour between the two ends of China's tracked cities, all of it the result of longitude rather than of the clock. The wider that gap, the more one shared office schedule means genuinely different amounts of morning light depending on where you are.
How much daylight changes through the year
Daylight is governed by latitude, not by the clock. Beijing, at 39.9° north, gets 15 hours of daylight on the longest day of the year and 9 hours 20 minutes on the shortest.
Shenzhen, at 22.5° north, gets 13 hours 31 minutes of daylight on the longest day of the year and 10 hours 45 minutes on the shortest. So the annual swing between longest and shortest day is 5 hours 40 minutes in Beijing against 2 hours 46 minutes in Shenzhen, within the same country.
Cities in China
Want to compare a city here against your own location? Open the interactive world time zone map to pin it live.
Frequently asked questions
How many time zones does China have?
China uses a single time zone among the cities tracked here: UTC+8.
Does China observe daylight saving time?
No, none of the cities tracked here observe daylight saving time.
Do clocks in China match the sun?
Clocks and the sun are not the same thing. In Chongqing the clock runs 54 minutes ahead of local solar time, so midday on the clock is not the moment the sun is highest.
How much does daylight change through the year in China?
In Beijing, the longest day of the year has 15 hours of daylight and the shortest has 9 hours 20 minutes.