Free Tool · Doing Business with China · Time Zones

China Meeting Planner & Beijing Time Converter

Find a meeting time that works in China and for your clients and colleagues in India, Europe, the Middle East and the US — with 24-hour and am/pm side by side, daylight saving warnings and China's holidays and adjusted working days.

Plan a Meeting with China

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What Time Zone Is China In?

All of mainland China runs on one time zone: China Standard Time, or Beijing Time (北京时间), UTC+8 — from Shanghai on the coast to Kashgar near Central Asia, around 4,000 kilometres apart. China tried daylight saving time from 1986 to 1991 and dropped it, so Beijing Time is UTC+8 all year. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use UTC+8 as well.

For meeting planning, this means China never moves — but your clients' clocks often do. Europe and North America switch between summer and winter time on different dates, so the gap to China changes twice a year, and for a week or two in spring and autumn it is unusual. The planner warns you when a clock change falls close to your meeting date.

Time Difference Between China and Your Clients

LocationBeijing is ahead byTypical meeting window (Beijing time)
India (Mumbai, Delhi)2 h 30 min, all year11:30–17:30 — almost a full working-day overlap
UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi)4 h, all year13:00–17:30 = 09:00–13:30 in Dubai
Germany / Central Europe6 h in summer, 7 h in winter15:00–17:30 = Europe's morning
UK7 h in summer, 8 h in winter16:00–18:00 = UK morning
US East Coast (New York)12 h in summer, 13 h in winter20:00–22:00 = New York's morning
US West Coast (Los Angeles)15 h in summer, 16 h in winter08:00–09:00 = late afternoon the day before

Many Chinese offices take a lunch break from about 12:00 to 13:30, so the planner marks it amber rather than green. And "CST" is a trap: it stands for China Standard Time (UTC+8) and for Central Standard Time in North America (UTC−6). Write the city and UTC offset instead — the copy text in the planner does it for you.

China Public Holidays 2026 and Adjusted Working Days

China's public holidays are set each year by the State Council. To create longer breaks, some weekend days become official working days (调休), and the weekdays in between become days off. Your Chinese partners may be in the office on a Saturday — and away on a Tuesday.

HolidayDays off 2026Weekend working days
New Year's Day 元旦Thu 1–Sat 3 Jan (3 days)Sun 4 Jan
Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) 春节Sun 15–Mon 23 Feb (9 days)Sat 14 Feb, Sat 28 Feb
Qingming Festival 清明节Sat 4–Mon 6 Apr (3 days)—
Labour Day 劳动节Fri 1–Tue 5 May (5 days)Sat 9 May
Dragon Boat Festival 端午节Fri 19–Sun 21 Jun (3 days)—
Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节Fri 25–Sun 27 Sep (3 days)—
National Day (Golden Week) 国庆节Thu 1–Wed 7 Oct (7 days)Sun 20 Sep, Sat 10 Oct

Source: State Council holiday notice for 2026. The schedule for the following year is usually published in November, and we add it here once it is out.

How to Use the China Meeting Planner

  1. Choose your cities — up to six. Beijing, Mumbai, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles are preset, plus your own city if it's not on the list. Click any city name to change it.
  2. Set the time where it was suggested — type it into that city's row: 10:30, 10.30, 1030, 5pm, 5:30 pm or 17h all work. All other cities follow.
  3. Or drag the red line across the colour bars to find a time that is green for everyone. The "Shared working hours" bar shows it at a glance.
  4. Check the notices — clock changes, Chinese public holidays and weekend working days near your date.
  5. Send it — copy the times for your email, download a calendar file, or share a link that opens the same view.

The star marks the reference city: the date picker and the colour bars follow its day. Click another city's star to switch.

Before you send the invite

Scheduling Meetings with Chinese Partners

Most missed meetings with China come down to a few avoidable mistakes. Check these before you confirm a date.

  1. Avoid Spring Festival and Golden Week

    Around Chinese New Year and the 1 October National Day holiday, offices close for a week or more, and the days before and after are slow. Plan decisions and launches around them. China marketing calendar →

  2. Watch for weekend working days

    Adjusted working days (调休) put Chinese teams in the office on some Saturdays and Sundays — and off on weekdays next to a holiday. Check the date before assuming a Friday or Monday works.

  3. Write times with city and UTC offset

    "15:00 CST" can mean China or Chicago. "15:00 Beijing (UTC+8) / 09:00 Berlin (UTC+2)" cannot be misread — and showing both 24-hour and am/pm removes the 12:00 noon or midnight confusion.

  4. Respect the lunch break

    Many Chinese offices break from about 12:00 to 13:30. Late morning or mid-afternoon in China is safer for calls.

  5. Use a meeting tool that works in China

    Google Meet and other Google services are blocked in mainland China. Microsoft Teams and Tencent Meeting (VooV Meeting outside China) usually work; for quick calls, Chinese partners often prefer WeChat.

  6. Re-check recurring meetings in March and October/November

    China never changes its clocks, but Europe and the US do — on different weekends. A recurring meeting moves by an hour for one side, and for a week or two the gap is unusual.

From working with Western clients across time zones from our offices in Guangzhou and Tianjin since 2012.

Book a call with our China team

Frequently Asked Questions

All of mainland China uses one time zone: China Standard Time, also called Beijing Time (北京时间), which is UTC+8. China has not used daylight saving time since 1991, so the time is UTC+8 all year. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan also use UTC+8.
It depends on daylight saving time in the other country. Beijing is 6 hours ahead of Germany in summer and 7 hours in winter, 12 hours ahead of New York in summer and 13 in winter, and 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles in summer and 16 in winter. India and the UAE do not change their clocks: Beijing is always 2 hours 30 minutes ahead of India and 4 hours ahead of the UAE.
Both, which is why it causes missed meetings. CST is short for China Standard Time (UTC+8) and also for Central Standard Time in North America (UTC−6), and for Cuba Standard Time. Always write the city and the UTC offset, for example "15:00 Beijing (UTC+8)". The copy text in this planner does that automatically.
To create longer public holidays, China moves working days: some weekend days become official working days, and the weekdays in between become days off. For example, around National Day 2026, Sunday 20 September and Saturday 10 October are working days. Chinese colleagues may be in the office on those weekend days and away on the weekdays around the holiday.
New Year 1–3 January, Spring Festival 15–23 February, Qingming 4–6 April, Labour Day 1–5 May, Dragon Boat Festival 19–21 June, Mid-Autumn Festival 25–27 September and National Day 1–7 October. The adjusted working days are 4 January, 14 and 28 February, 9 May, 20 September and 10 October. The full table is on this page.
For Europe, China's afternoon works best: 15:00–17:00 Beijing time is 08:00–10:00 in Germany in winter and 09:00–11:00 in summer. For the US East Coast, China's evening meets the US morning: 20:00–21:00 Beijing is 07:00–08:00 in New York in winter and 08:00–09:00 in summer. The US West Coast overlaps only at the edges of the day — usually early morning in China and late afternoon the day before in California.
Yes, it is free and needs no sign-up. All calculations run in your browser using its built-in time zone database. Your cities are remembered in your own browser only, and nothing you enter is sent to our server.

Built by Jademond Digital, a Chinese digital marketing agency founded in Guangzhou in 2012. Map data: Natural Earth (public domain). City data: city-timezones (MIT licence). About us →