Asia/Shanghai is an IANA time zone used in China. It stays on UTC+8 all year.
Asia/Shanghai at a glance
Rules of the Asia/Shanghai time zone
Asia/Shanghai has stayed on UTC+8 since its last daylight saving period in 1991. Software that still applies an old rule will show the wrong time, so keep tz data up to date.
Recent and upcoming changes in Asia/Shanghai
| Date | Change | New offset |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, April 15, 1990 | Clocks go forward 1 hour: 2:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM | UTC+9 |
| Sunday, September 16, 1990 | Clocks go back 1 hour: 2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM | UTC+8 |
| Sunday, April 14, 1991 | Clocks go forward 1 hour: 2:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM | UTC+9 |
| Sunday, September 15, 1991 | Clocks go back 1 hour for good: 2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM | UTC+8 |
Where Asia/Shanghai is used
Asia/Shanghai is used in China. These are the largest cities in our list that follow it.
Asia/Shanghai compared with other time zones
Differences change during the year when one side moves to or from daylight saving time, so the table shows January and July separately.
| City | Time now | Difference now | In January | In July |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (United States) | --:-- | 13 h behind | 13 h behind | 12 h behind |
| Los Angeles (United States) | --:-- | 16 h behind | 16 h behind | 15 h behind |
| London (United Kingdom) | --:-- | 8 h behind | 8 h behind | 7 h behind |
| Paris (France) | --:-- | 7 h behind | 7 h behind | 6 h behind |
| Dubai (United Arab Emirates) | --:-- | 4 h behind | 4 h behind | 4 h behind |
| Mumbai (India) | --:-- | 2 h 30 min behind | 2 h 30 min behind | 2 h 30 min behind |
| Singapore | --:-- | Same time | Same time | Same time |
| Tokyo (Japan) | --:-- | 1 h ahead | 1 h ahead | 1 h ahead |
| Sydney (Australia) | --:-- | 3 h ahead | 3 h ahead | 2 h ahead |
| UTC | --:-- | 8 h behind | 8 h behind | 8 h behind |
Other zones on UTC+8 right now
These IANA zones show the same time as Asia/Shanghai today. Their clock-change rules may differ.
- Asia/Brunei
- Asia/Hong_Kong
- Asia/Irkutsk
- Asia/Kuala_Lumpur
- Asia/Kuching
- Asia/Macau
- Asia/Makassar
- Asia/Manila
- Asia/Singapore
- Asia/Taipei
- Asia/Ulaanbaatar
- Australia/Perth
Using Asia/Shanghai in software
Use the zone name Asia/Shanghai rather than an abbreviation or a fixed offset. Abbreviations can mean several zones, and offsets ignore future clock changes.
Show the current time in Asia/Shanghai:
// JavaScript
new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-GB', { timeZone: 'Asia/Shanghai', timeStyle: 'long' }).format(new Date());
# Python
from datetime import datetime
from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo
datetime.now(ZoneInfo('Asia/Shanghai'))
// PHP
(new DateTime('now', new DateTimeZone('Asia/Shanghai')))->format('c');
# Shell
TZ=Asia/Shanghai datePlan around the time in Asia/Shanghai
- Convert a time to or from Asia/Shanghai: pick a date and time and see it in every city on your list.
- Add Shanghai to your world clock to keep it next to your own time.
- Find a meeting time that falls inside office hours in Asia/Shanghai and the other cities you work with.
- Open a full-screen clock for your own time zone.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UTC offset of Asia/Shanghai?
UTC+8, all year.
What abbreviation does Asia/Shanghai use?
CST. Abbreviations are not unique, so use the zone name Asia/Shanghai in software.
Time zone rules: IANA tz database, version 2026e. Place names and coordinates: GeoNames. Sunrise and sunset are calculated from the coordinates and can differ by a minute or two from local almanacs.