What is CST (China) in CST?
Central Time is 13 hours behind
China Standard Time is on UTC+8:00 and Central Time is on UTC−5:00 right now. Central Time is on daylight saving, so its clocks read CDT. The gap changes during the year — see below.
- Time in Beijing
- 10:14 am
- Time in Chicago
- 9:14 pm
- Difference
- −13 h
- Next clock change
- November 1, 2026
Convert a time
CDT — Central Time
9:00 pm
Tue, the previous day
When the difference changes
China Standard Time and Central Time do not change their clocks on the same dates, so the gap between them is not the same all year. Most converters show only today’s figure. These are the periods ahead:
- Now – November 1, 2026Central Time is 13 hours behind
- November 1, 2026 – March 14, 2027Central Time is 14 hours behind
- March 14, 2027 – onwardsCentral Time is 13 hours behind
Periods shorter than a day are not listed: both zones change at 2am in their own local time, so there are a few hours on each transition date when the gap is briefly something else.
Daylight saving
China Standard Time
China Standard Time stays on CST all year, so its offset from UTC never moves.
Central Time
Clocks go back one hour at 2am local time, becoming CST.
CST (China) to CST conversion table
Every hour of Wednesday, September 23, 2026, converted from China Standard Time to Central Time. 13 of the 24 hours fall on a different calendar day in Chicago, which is marked.
- 12:00 am CST
- 11:00 am CDT−1 day
- 1:00 am CST
- 12:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 2:00 am CST
- 1:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 3:00 am CST
- 2:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 4:00 am CST
- 3:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 5:00 am CST
- 4:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 6:00 am CST
- 5:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 7:00 am CST
- 6:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 8:00 am CST
- 7:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 9:00 am CST
- 8:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 10:00 am CST
- 9:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 11:00 am CST
- 10:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 12:00 pm CST
- 11:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 1:00 pm CST
- 12:00 am CDT
- 2:00 pm CST
- 1:00 am CDT
- 3:00 pm CST
- 2:00 am CDT
- 4:00 pm CST
- 3:00 am CDT
- 5:00 pm CST
- 4:00 am CDT
- 6:00 pm CST
- 5:00 am CDT
- 7:00 pm CST
- 6:00 am CDT
- 8:00 pm CST
- 7:00 am CDT
- 9:00 pm CST
- 8:00 am CDT
- 10:00 pm CST
- 9:00 am CDT
- 11:00 pm CST
- 10:00 am CDT
Scheduling between the two
There is no overlap between a nine-to-six working day in Beijing and one in Chicago — the gap is too wide. A call has to sit early or late for one side. Early morning in Beijing is the usual compromise, since that is late afternoon or evening in Chicago.
A note on CST (China): it can also mean the abbreviation CST is shared with US Central Time and Cuba Standard Time.
A note on CST: it can also mean China Standard Time (UTC+8) and Cuba Standard Time (UTC−5). This page means US Central Time.
China Standard Time (CST) is used in the whole of China, which runs on one offset from Kashgar to Shanghai
Central Time (CDT) is used in Dallas, Houston, Mexico City and Winnipeg