Time in Beijing
It is 09:26 on Thursday, 17 September 2026 in Beijing. Beijing is in China. Civil time uses the IANA zone Asia/Shanghai at +08:00 from UTC (not in effect). Use the live clock below for the current local time, then jump to a difference or conversion when you need meeting math.
Beijing sets the national reference known as Beijing Time — the same Asia/Shanghai zone at UTC+08:00 with no daylight saving across China.
Government and corporate schedules often start near 09:00. Western China may feel “early” by the sun, but Beijing’s numbered hours are what national media and rail timetables use.
National radio and rail use Beijing Time as the spoken clock. Saying “local Xinjiang time” in an invite will confuse anyone who only watches CCTV.
Beijing time zone
- UTC offset
- UTC+08:00
- Abbreviation
- CST
- IANA
- Asia/Shanghai
- DST
- not in effect
Daylight saving in Beijing
Beijing is currently on its standard offset. Beijing does not change its clocks. The offset stays +08:00 all year, so the gap to other cities only moves when the other side changes.
Daylight in Beijing today
The sun rises at 05:57 and sets at 18:20, giving 12 h 24 m of daylight. Solar noon falls at 12:09, 9 minutes after the clock reads twelve, because Beijing sits west of the 120° E meridian its current offset is built on.
- Sunrise
- 05:57
- Sunset
- 18:20
- Daylight
- 12 h 24 m
- Solar noon
- 12:09Solar noon is when the sun sits highest in the sky. It drifts from clock noon across a time zone, which is why one clock can span very different days.
Best time to call Beijing
Overlap between a 09:00–17:00 working day in Beijing and the same hours in other major cities.
Same clock as Beijing
These cities share Asia/Shanghai, so they show the same civil time as Beijing right now. Compare them with cities in other zones for a real time difference.
Popular time differences
More in China
Related guides
About Beijing
- Population
- 21,893,095The administrative city figure recorded by Wikidata. The surrounding urban area is larger.
- Coordinates
- 39.9040° N, 116.4075° ELatitude is what drives the sunrise and sunset times above.
- Currency
- Chinese Yuan (CNY)
- Calling code
- +86Dial this after your international access prefix, and check the overlap table above before you call.
- Languages
- Chinese
- Airports
- PEKBeijing Capital InternationalPKXBeijing Daxing InternationalArrival and departure boards at these airports quote Beijing local time, not the time where you booked.
Frequently asked questions about time in Beijing
- What time is it in Beijing right now?
- It is 09:26 in Beijing as this page was generated, and the clock above keeps ticking in your browser. Beijing uses the IANA zone Asia/Shanghai, currently +08:00.
- Which time zone is Beijing in?
- Beijing is in the CST time zone (Asia/Shanghai), currently +08:00. Always store the identifier rather than the offset — the offset changes with daylight saving, the identifier does not.
- Does Beijing observe daylight saving time?
- No. Beijing stays on +08:00 all year. Any change in the gap to another city comes from that city changing its own clocks.
- Is Beijing ahead of or behind UTC?
- Beijing is currently at +08:00. When it is 12:00 UTC, the local time in Beijing is 20:00.
Well-known places in Beijing
If you are checking the time in Beijing because you are heading there, these are the most widely documented places to see.
- Forbidden CityRead more on Wikipedia
- Tiananmen SquareRead more on Wikipedia
- Temple of HeavenRead more on Wikipedia