Time ZonesAbout this time zone
Shanghai is one of the 2 time zone areas of China. Computers and phones know it by the zone name Asia/Shanghai. Its time is UTC+8, which means it is 8 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) all year round. The short name used for this time is CST. Compared with India (IST), it is 2 hours 30 minutes ahead of India.
Clock changes in 2026 and 2027
Shanghai does not change its clocks in 2026 or 2027. The time stays at UTC+8 all year, so there is no daylight saving time to remember.
Time difference with major cities
| When it is 12:00 noon in Shanghai, it is | In January 2026 | In July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 9:30 am2 hours 30 minutes behind | 9:30 am2 hours 30 minutes behind |
| United Kingdom | 4:00 am8 hours behind | 5:00 am7 hours behind |
| France | 5:00 am7 hours behind | 6:00 am6 hours behind |
| New York, United States | 11:00 pm previous day13 hours behind | 12:00 am12 hours behind |
| Chicago, United States | 10:00 pm previous day14 hours behind | 11:00 pm previous day13 hours behind |
| Los Angeles, United States | 8:00 pm previous day16 hours behind | 9:00 pm previous day15 hours behind |
| United Arab Emirates | 8:00 am4 hours behind | 8:00 am4 hours behind |
| Singapore | 12:00 pmsame time | 12:00 pmsame time |
| Japan | 1:00 pm1 hour ahead | 1:00 pm1 hour ahead |
| Sydney, Australia | 3:00 pm3 hours ahead | 2:00 pm2 hours ahead |
The table uses the offsets in force in mid January and mid July 2026. Use the converter for any other date.
Clock time and sun time in Shanghai
A time zone is an agreement, and the sun does not follow it exactly. Shanghai, the largest city in this zone, lies at about 121.5° east. Each degree of longitude is worth four minutes, so by the sun alone its time would be about 8 hours 6 minutes ahead of UTC. The clock is set to UTC+8. The sun is therefore highest in the sky at about 11:54 am by the clock, not at 12:00. That is a close match: clock and sun agree to within a quarter of an hour. Other places in the zone, to the east or west of Shanghai, see the sun peak a little earlier or later. Through the year the figure also drifts by up to a quarter of an hour either way.
How long the day is
Shanghai is about 31.2° north of the equator. On the longest day of the year, around 21 June, the sun is up for about 14 hours 11 minutes. On the shortest, around 21 December, for about 10 hours 7 minutes. That is a swing of about 4 hours 4 minutes between summer and winter, yet the clocks here stay the same all year.
Office hours shared with other places
If both sides work from 9 am to 6 pm, these are the hours when a call falls inside the working day at both ends. Times are for Shanghai.
- With India, all year: 11:30 am to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 3:30 pm in India (6 hours 30 minutes shared).
- With London, in January: 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 10:00 am in London (1 hour shared). In July: 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 11:00 am in London (2 hours shared).
- With New York, in January: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 8:00 pm in New York, and 6:00 pm here is 5:00 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late. In July: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 9:00 pm in New York, and 6:00 pm here is 6:00 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late.
How many people keep this time
The GeoNames list has 1,986 towns and cities of 15,000 people or more in this zone area, with about 843 million people between them. People in villages and smaller towns are not in that count, so the true number on this clock is higher.
Cities that keep this time
The largest cities in this zone: Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Harbin, Dongguan, Hefei, Weifang.
Places with exactly the same time
These zones show the same time as Shanghai through the whole year: Brunei, Hong Kong, Irkutsk, Russia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Kuching, Malaysia, Macau, Macao, Makassar, Indonesia, Manila, Philippines, Singapore, Taipei, Taiwan, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Perth, Australia.
The clock above uses your device's clock and the time zone rules built into your browser. Rules on this page: IANA time zone database 2026f. See About and data sources.