IANA tz database · zone identifier

Asia/Shanghai

The IANA tz database identifier for China Standard Time in China. Store this string — not the abbreviation, not the offset — and your timestamps stay correct forever.

UTC+08:00Abbreviation CSTNo daylight saving
Time in Asia/Shanghai☀ Daylight
07:00:15
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Offset
UTC+08:00
Abbreviation
CST
DST
No DST

Current offset

UTC+08:00

same year-round

Abbreviation

CST

used year-round

DST behaviour

None

one offset all year

Country

🇨🇳 China

ISO 3166: CN · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

Asia/Shanghai is the identifier to use in code and config for this region. Every modern language, database, and OS resolves it through the same tz database, so the examples here behave identically everywhere.

Avoid storing CST or +08:00 — abbreviations are ambiguous and fixed offsets can't follow rule changes.

// format a date in this zone
new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', {
timeZone: 'Asia/Shanghai',
dateStyle: 'full', timeStyle: 'long'
}).format(new Date());

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
35 years.

Asia/Shanghai has kept UTC+08:00 year-round since 15 September 1991 — no daylight saving and no offset changes on record since. It is among the most stable identifiers in the database.

Every offset this zone has kept

+08:05:52UTC+08:00 · UNCHANGED 15 September 1991 NOW

Keeping this offset since

15 September 1991

Next transition

None scheduled

no DST rules exist for this zone

Safe to assume

Local = UTC + 8h, always

…but store the identifier anyway

Technical record

The database entry, in full.

source: IANA tz database · release 2026d

IdentifierAsia/Shanghai
ISO country codeCN🇨🇳 China
Reference coordinates31.23°N, 121.47°Etz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC+08:00abbreviation CST
Daylight offset—no daylight saving time
tzdb release2026ddata current as of this IANA release

Where it applies

One of China's 2 zones.

Looking for travel-friendly info? See Chongqing or China Standard Time.

🇨🇳
China

1.4B people, 2 time zones — this identifier covers one of them.

Country page →
🇨🇳 Chongqing
07:00
07:00:15 · CST
pop. 32MCST
🇨🇳 Shanghai
07:00
07:00:15 · CST
pop. 25MCST
🇨🇳 Jilin
07:00
07:00:15 · CST
pop. 24MCST

Related identifiers

Nearby in the database.

Same zone group · China Standard Time

other identifiers keeping CST

Same offset · UTC+08:00

other zones keeping this offset right now

Frequently asked questions

Answers specific to this identifier — generated from the database record. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].

What UTC offset is Asia/Shanghai?
Asia/Shanghai is UTC+08:00, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does Asia/Shanghai observe daylight saving time?
No. Asia/Shanghai stays on UTC+08:00 all year, as it has since 15 September 1991.
Which country uses Asia/Shanghai?
China. It is one of 2 IANA zones covering the country.
Is Asia/Shanghai the same as CST?
Asia/Shanghai is one of the IANA zones that keeps China Standard Time (CST). Use Asia/Shanghai in software — CST is a human-friendly label, not a valid identifier.

Free · Developer API

This zone, as JSON.

Its live offset, abbreviation and DST status, plus its coordinates and country, from one endpoint.

GET /v1/timezones Live

Also in the API: time zones by coordinates, conversions that flag daylight saving gaps, and abbreviations decoded.

Get your free API key → All endpoints Plans and pricing

Moving off WorldTimeAPI? Our drop-in replacement needs no key.

// this identifier, resolved live
GET /v1/timezones/Asia/Shanghai
{
"data": {
"iana": "Asia/Shanghai",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": { "code": "CN", "name": "China" },
"current": {
"utc_offset": "+08:00",
"abbreviation": "CST",
…
},
…
}
}