Time Difference

Business Hours in China

The Chinese government stipulates a five-day workweek with no more than 8 hours a day and no more than 44 hours a week in the Labor Law of People's Republic of China.

The regular working time generally is from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday off. The Chinese people usually work between 08:00 and 18:00 each day, with a lunch break from 12:00 to 14:00. However, local variations may occur due to the time difference or policy in different cities. For instance, the working day in Xinjiang usually starts from 09:00 or 10:00 due to its longitude.

The working hours of Chinese companies may be from 08:00 to 17:00, 08:30 to 17:30 or 09:00 to 18:00. The official organizations like the government offices usually work from 09:00 to 17:00 with a one-hour siesta, and they do not work on Saturdays and Sundays.

Hospitals, post offices, banks and tourist sights are always open daily from 08:30-09:30 to 16:00-18:00, but the hospital clinics and its first-aid center are usually served for 24 hours. Hotels also offer the round-the-clock service to any lodger. Shops, department stores and supermarkets are open every day from 08:30-09:30 to 21:30, including public holidays. Restaurants and bars are always open from around 10:00 to the late night, sometimes even into the small hours or for all night.

Besides the regular days off (Saturday and Sunday), Chinese people also enjoy the holidays of Spring Festival, Qing Ming Festival, May Day, Dragon Boat Day, Mid-Autumn Day, National Day, and New Year's Day. Take the Spring Festival for an example. According to the state regulations, Chinese people can take three days off, including the December 30th, January 1st and January 2nd of the Chinese lunar calendar. So, during this time, most sectors are closed. Only some service sectors, like banks, post offices, tourist companies and railway stations, are open.

Time Difference

Time Zone of China

Geographically, China covers five time zones (Zhongyuan Time Zone, Longshu Time Zone, Tibet Time Zone, Kunlun Time Zone and Changbai Time Zone). However, the standard times used in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan Province are the same, for they are all in the same time zone (UTC+8), 8 hours ahead of the Universal Time Coordinated.

Beijing Time (GMT+8)

For the unity, the whole China adopts Beijing Time as its standard time, which is also in the time zone (GMT+8). Beijing Time is worked out and released from the National Time Service Center, Pucheng County, Shaanxi Province, which is geographically almost the center of China. Unlike western countries, China now does not follow the daylight saving time. For the current local times, please refer to the The World Clock.

World Time Difference to China

The time in China is 13 hours ahead of New York, 12 hours ahead of Toronto, and 2 hours behind Melbourne. When Beijing is 12:00 at noon, the standard times in other main cities are as follows:

City	Time	City	Time	City	Time
Baghdad	06:00	Helsinki	06:00	Pyongyang	13:00
Bangkok	11:00	Ho Chi Minh City	11:00	Rangoon	10:00
Berlin	05:30	Honolulu	18:00	Rio de Janeiro	01:00
Berne	05:00	Irkutsk	12:00	Rome	05:30
Bombay	09:30	Jakarta	11:30	Rwanda	05:00
Brussels	04:00	Karachi	09:00	San Francisco	20:00
Bucharest	06:00	Khartoum	06:00	Santiago	24:00
Budapest	05:00	Kuala Lumpur	11:30	Seoul	13:00
Buenos Aires	01:00	Leningrad	07:00	Singapore	11:30
Cairo	06:00	Lisbon	04:00	Sofia	06:00
Calcutta	09:00	London	04:00	Stockholm	05:00
Cape Town	06:00	Manila	12:00	Surabaya	11:30
Casablanca	04:00	Melbourne	14:00	Sydney	14:00
Colombo	09:30	Mexico City	21:00	Teheran	06:00
Conakry	04:00	Montreal	23:00	Tirana	05:00
Copenhagen	05:00	Moscow	07:00	Tokyo	13:00
Damascus	06:00	New Delhi	09:30	Tunisia	05:00
Geneva	05:00	New York	23:00	Vancouver	20:00
Guatemala City	22:00	Osaka	13:00	Vienna	05:00
Haiphong	11:00	Panama City	23:00	Warsaw	05:00
Hanoi	11:00	Paris	04:00	Washington	23:00
Havana	23:00	Prague	05:00	Wellington	16:00