Time in Shanghai
It is 09:26 on Thursday, 17 September 2026 in Shanghai. Shanghai 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.
Shanghai runs on China Standard Time (Asia/Shanghai) at UTC+08:00 year-round. China does not observe daylight saving, so the offset to UTC never jumps.
As the country’s financial capital, office hours commonly cluster around 09:00–18:00. European mornings overlap Shanghai afternoons; US East Coast business hours fall in the Shanghai night.
Stock-exchange hours are Beijing Time. A “0930 CN” print is 09:30 Asia/Shanghai, not a Shanghai-only offset.
Shanghai time zone
- UTC offset
- UTC+08:00
- Abbreviation
- CST
- IANA
- Asia/Shanghai
- DST
- not in effect
Daylight saving in Shanghai
Shanghai is currently on its standard offset. Shanghai 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 Shanghai today
The sun rises at 05:39 and sets at 17:58, giving 12 h 19 m of daylight. Solar noon falls at 11:48, 11 minutes before the clock reads twelve, because Shanghai sits east of the 120° E meridian its current offset is built on.
- Sunrise
- 05:39
- Sunset
- 17:58
- Daylight
- 12 h 19 m
- Solar noon
- 11:48Solar 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 Shanghai
Overlap between a 09:00–17:00 working day in Shanghai and the same hours in other major cities.
Same clock as Shanghai
These cities share Asia/Shanghai, so they show the same civil time as Shanghai right now. Compare them with cities in other zones for a real time difference.
Popular time differences
More in China
Related guides
About Shanghai
- Population
- 24,870,895The administrative city figure recorded by Wikidata. The surrounding urban area is larger.
- Coordinates
- 31.2325° N, 121.4692° 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
- PVGShanghai Pudong InternationalSHAShanghai Hongqiao InternationalArrival and departure boards at these airports quote Shanghai local time, not the time where you booked.
Frequently asked questions about time in Shanghai
- What time is it in Shanghai right now?
- It is 09:26 in Shanghai as this page was generated, and the clock above keeps ticking in your browser. Shanghai uses the IANA zone Asia/Shanghai, currently +08:00.
- Which time zone is Shanghai in?
- Shanghai 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 Shanghai observe daylight saving time?
- No. Shanghai stays on +08:00 all year. Any change in the gap to another city comes from that city changing its own clocks.
- Is Shanghai ahead of or behind UTC?
- Shanghai is currently at +08:00. When it is 12:00 UTC, the local time in Shanghai is 20:00.
Well-known places in Shanghai
If you are checking the time in Shanghai because you are heading there, these are the most widely documented places to see.
- Oriental Pearl TowerRead more on Wikipedia
- Shanghai MuseumRead more on Wikipedia
- Yu GardenRead more on Wikipedia